 Davis was a supporter of the Soledad Brothers, three inmates who were accused of killing a prison guard at Soledad Prison.On August 7, 1970, heavily armed 17-year-old African-American high-school student Jonathan Jackson, whose brother was George Jackson, one of the three Soledad Brothers, gained control of a courtroom in Marin County, California.He armed the black defendants and took Judge Harold Haley, the prosecutor, and three female jurors as hostages.