On August 16, 1970, Angela Davis, the political activist and scholar, was named in a federal arrest warrant in connection with her involvement in a violent attempt to free the “Soledad Brothers”—three African American men who were accused of killing a white prison guard. The incident that led to the arrest warrant was the kidnapping and murder of a judge, which was orchestrated by a man named Jonathan Jackson, who had tried to take the judge hostage in an attempt to secure the release of the Soledad Brothers.

Davis was accused of being involved by providing the weapons used in the kidnapping. She was charged with aiding and abetting the kidnapping and murder of Judge Harold Haley. Despite the charges, Davis became a symbol of the struggle for civil rights and prison reform. She was later arrested and spent several months in jail before being acquitted of all charges in 1972.

Her case garnered international attention and she became a prominent figure in the Black Power and feminist movements.