Cluchette and Drumgo, along with George Jackson, had been framed for the Jan. 16, 1970, murder of Soledad prison guard John Mills. The state viewed the case as a method of crushing the growing radicalization in the California prisons. George Jackson, an established leader of the prison movement, was their primary target.

George Jackson's murder by San Quentin guards two days before the trial was scheduled to open provided the pretext to make the courthouse an armed camp. The intimidating searches administered outside the courtroom were designed to convince the all-white jury that Cluchette and Drumgo were exceedingly violent men, and to discourage spectators from viewing the state's paltry "evidence." Cluchette and Drumgo were characterized as being so dangerous that Judge Spiro Vavuris ordered them to be flown to the trial every day by helicopter, with their hands and legs shackled.

The Soledad verdict was a reflection of the public's growing anger at the brutal conditions in California's prisons. The lack of a functioning defense committee, however, placed severe financial limitations upon the defense attorneys. It also resulted in low attendance at the trial and enabled the prosecution to monopolize the mass media. A significant movement must now be built to free the San Quentin Six and other political prisoners.

April 5, 1947
APRIL 1 - The nation's soft coal mines shut down today as 400,000 members of the United Mine Workers began six days of mourning for their 111 comrades murdered in the Centralia mine explosion.

The memorial for the 111 and the protest against the criminal negligence of government officials that led to their death was called by UMW President John L. Lewis on March 29. Some 35,000 miners began the memorial a day in advance. This action indicated how thoroughly the miners approve the six-day memorial and agree with Lewis' explanation of the need to throw a spotlight on government failure to enforce safe operating provision....

This mine blew up last Tuesday afternoon [March 25]. The surviving miners and rescue squads from all over the state worked frantically till Saturday trying to reach the victims. Their rescue work was hampered by the incompetence of the State Mine Director, who endangered the lives of the rescue crews by ordering the electric current turned on in the gas-filled mine.

One rescue worker told him "You're either too damn ignorant or you ain't satisfied with killing them, you want to kill us too."  
 
 
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