San Quentin Six Incident

Date: August 21, 1971 • Location: Corte Madera, United States

Six people were killed during an escape attempt and riot at San Quentin State Prison in California; the subsequent trial of six inmates was the longest in state history at the time.

The San Quentin Six were six inmates—Fleeta Drumgo, David Johnson, Hugo Pinell, Johnny Spain, Willie Tate, and Luis Talamantez—at California's San Quentin State Prison who were charged with criminal actions related to an August 21, 1971, escape attempt and prison riot. The riot resulted in six deaths and at least two people seriously wounded. Among those killed was George Jackson, a co-founder of the Black Guerrilla Family and a famous author and radical prisoner.