On this day in 1972, Red Power activist Richard Oakes was shot and killed in Sonoma, California by Michael Morgan, a white YMCA camp manager. Morgan claimed self-defense and was acquitted on voluntary manslaughter charges by an all-white jury.

Richard Oakes was a Mohawk indigenous activist. He spurred Native American studies in university curricula and is credited for helping to change U.S. federal government termination policies of indigenous peoples and culture.

Oakes played a leading role in a 19-month occupation of Alcatraz Island alongside LaNada Means, John Trudell, approximately 50 California State University students, and 37 others. The protest group chose the name Indians of All Tribes (IOAT) for themselves and claimed the island under the Treaty of Fort Laramie.

On September 20th, 1972, Oakes was shot and killed in Sonoma, California, by Michael Morgan, a YMCA camp manager. Oakes allegedly violently confronted him, and Morgan responded by drawing a handgun and fatally shooting Oakes.

Oakes was unarmed when he was shot. Morgan claimed he acted in self-defense and was acquitted on charges of voluntary manslaughter by an all-white jury.