May 4th, Tuesday, will mark the 40th anniversary of the Kent State shootings. Also called the May 4 Massacre, the incident had the National Guard soldiers open fire on a crowd of demonstrators and protesters on the Kent State University campus in Ohio on Monday, May 4, 1970. In the end, four were dead and nine wounded, none of whom were less than 71 feet away. None dead were older than 20 and two weren’t protesting.
The background behind the Kent state shootings
Kent State University, as many universities of the time, had seen a series of protests and demonstrations against the Vietnam War. President Nixon took office in 1969, being elected on a platform of reducing or stopping the war. Instead, November of 1969 revealed the institution of the draft lottery the My Lai Massacre, and in spring of 1970, the escalation of the war into Cambodia.
Here comes trouble
Friday, May 1 1970, a student protest took place at Kent State. The invasion of Cambodia was announced the day before, and students and others within the area were incensed. Demonstrations took place and it got out of hand. The Mayor ended up requesting the Governor declare a state of emergency, and James Rhodes, then Governor of Ohio, called the National Guard to the area on Saturday, May 2.
The days’ events
Despite the fact that authorities ordered the protest to be canceled, a demonstration was nevertheless scheduled to happen on May 4. They had the demonstration anyway so the National Guard launched ineffective tear gas on the students because of the wind. Rocks and tear gas canisters were thrown in retaliation. A total 77 soldiers advanced on the protesters, who left the area. After a pursuit in which the National Guard marched in the opposite direction the students were fleeing in, and after seeing the protesters, the soldiers opened fire, 67 shots in total.
The dead and wounded people
Four individuals died in the shooting:
* Jeffery Miller – 20
* Allison Krause – 19
* William Schroeder – 19; Shot in the back while en route to class. Attending on ROTC scholarship.
* Sandra Scheuer – 20; Shot in the throat while en route to class.
Nine a lot more individuals were hurt. No victims had been armed. There was only one lawsuit brought up against Governor Rhodes and also the National Guard.
Falling out
The aftermath of the Kent State Shootings was a period of turbulence and unrest. President Nixon, as a consequence, was taken to Camp David. A report by the Scranton Commission, a government panel which studied demonstrations and unrest, found that the National Guard was not justified in opening fire, and no command was issued to do so. To this day, it remains one of the darkest chapters in American history.
Article Sources
Kent State Shootings
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_State_shootings
