Argumentative Essay: Was The Kent State Justified?

The case of Kent V. United States is a historical case in the United States. The Kent case helped lead the way in the development of a list of eight criteria and principles. This creation of these criteria and principle has helped protect the offender and public for more than forty-five years. Which as a reason has forever changed the process of waving a juvenile into the adult system (Find Law, 2014).

Any school setting is supposed to be a peaceful learning environment. Nothing about guns symbolizes peace. Guns will increase the tension all over campus and students nor faculty should have to fear for their safety. For one professor, the campus carry law was too much of a risk. Daniel Hamermesh is a UT professor who teaches economics to a class of nearly 500 students has stated that he won’t be teaching at UT next year. Hamermesh claims that he has had many confrontations with furious students about grades and that a furious student with a weapon is a risk that he doesn’t want to

On May 4, 1970, Kent State went into history as one of the most powerful single events and images that America would ever witness during the Vietnam era. It would be reminisant of a battle field engagement, as gunfire would fill the Midwest college campus and bring the front lines of America's war over Vietnam. In 13 chaotic seconds, the Ohio National Guard fired their weapons at antiwar demonstrators, killing four and wounding nine. The shootings solidified the antiwar movement not only in America, but worldwide as well. By the next day photographs of the slain students, and the horror that was depicted over every possilbe news media, immortilized the name Kent State and cut through the nation's conscience.

Each time police and firemen got control of the situation, the building was set on fire again. The National Guard eventually pushed the marchers back with tear gas and bayonets as the marchers threw stones; many arrests were again made on this day. (8) On May 3rd, the Kent State campus was filled with Ohio National Guardsmen. James Rhodes, the Ohio governor arrived in Kent and called the protestors, "the worst type of people we harbor in America," and stating that every force of law would be used to deal with them. (9) Rhodes also indicated that he would seek a court order declaring a state of emergency. A crowd gathered later that night and the Ohio Riot Act was read to them. The students were protesting the Guardsmen being on campus by blocking the streets. When they were promised that they would be able to talk to Major Satrom and Kent State president Robert White about this situation the students moved off the streets. Once they moved, the Guardsmen immediately began use tear gas to break up the crowd, breaking the promise. (10)

On May 4, 1970 at approximately 12:24 PM members of the Ohio National Guard shot at and killed several unarmed Kent State University students. These students were protesting President Nixon’s decision to invade Cambodia. While some of the students who were shot at were actively protesting at the time of the shooting, others were simply walking by or casually observing the protest from a distance. How could an appalling incident like this occur? What possessed the members of the Ohio National Guard to shoot at unarmed students?

Since those horrible days in 1966 and 2007 there have been at least 6 other major shootings at American College Campuses. Among those six, a custodian shot and killed 7 people while injuring 2 at the California State University on July 12, 1976. Also involved in a horrific shooting, Douglas Pennington was a parent of 2 students of Shepherd University. He killed 2 people before committing suicide. Some say this is reason enough to prohibit the use of guns all together, but there is still a voice that rings out heavily across the Nation- nearly 3 million voices, to be literal. That voice is the N.R.A. (Jost, 2007, 126)

The student body at Kent State numbered about 20,000 and had been considered conservative, but not overly political. In fact they were thought of as rather passive politically. The shootings were a culmination of four days of demonstrations by members of the student body. The students were protesting the invasion of Cambodia by American forces.

On March 5, 1770, two regiments of British soldiers that were stationed in Boston opened fire on a mob of bystanders that wanted the British out of Boston. This protest was for the ending of the quartering of soldiers in people’s homes. On May 4, 1970, the National Guardsmen fired upon the unarmed students of Kent State University who were protesting against fighting in the Vietnam War. The result of this was a change in the policies of the National Guard and to use rubber bullets. These two shootings in American history are examples of Military Representatives actively firing on unarmed citizens. Also, examples of the civilians provoking the Military Representatives for them to shoot. We can use these examples for today’s society to further the developments in non-lethal actions against protesters. But before the lessons learned with these two shootings are highlighted, the history and significance of these events need to be understood.

On the night of the massacre the 8th regiment and 29th regiment had a conflict with a crowd of patriots. It all began with some schoolboys in King Street who threw snowballs at the soldiers of the 8th regiment. Sooner, a crowd gathered and continued throwing snowballs, ice, and rocks while also taunting the soldiers. Consequently, the 29th regiment was called, consisting of nine soldiers, for backup. The captain, Captain Thomas Preston, commanded the soldiers not to shoot while the crowd chanted “Fire and be damned.” Contradictory, someone fired at the crowd. It can be concluded that the soldier may, perhaps, did not hear the command due to the loud chaos. Now the question lies between on who was right. Is it wrong to turn to violence when pushed to the breaking point? Or is it wrong to torment those who have also tormented

What if there is an accidental shooting or a guard becomes over zealous in what they feel that their responsibilities are? These factors could lead to major lawsuits that the school would be responsible for by either having to represent that officer or in paying settlement and court costs for a lawsuit. These are added costs that the majority of the schools across the United States cannot afford to take on.

March 16 saw a demonstration in Montgomery, Alabama in which 580 demonstrators planned to march “from the Jackson Street Baptist Church to the Montgomery County Courthouse” (Reed 26). These protestors included a large number of northern college students. They met a police line a few blocks from the Courthouse and were forbidden from proceeding because “they did not have a parade permit” (Reed 26). Across the street came 40 or so students who planned on joining the group en route to the Courthouse. Eventually a few of the demonstrators dared to cross the street, led by James Forman who had organized the march. When it seemed the whole group would cross, police took action, with mounted officers and volunteers arriving at 1:12 pm. Riding into the small group of protestors, they forced most to withdraw, but a few stood fast around a utility pole where horsemen began to beat them. “A posseman

On April 16th 2007 at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, a student with psychological problems began a two hour killing spree that left 33 dead (Reader). The massacre that occurred at this school is now the worst recorded incident in the history of the United States and eclipses the University of Texas massacre of 1966. In the wake of tragedies like these, students, teachers and administrators propose more measures to make us feel safe on campus. But why weren't these measures in place before? School administrators and police have a responsibility to protect their students and faculty on campus, and these instances clearly shown a lack of fulfilling that responsibility. And yet several campus' refuse to allow law-abiding and

Facts: In Lexington, Kentucky, police officers followed a suspected drug dealer to an apartment building where he went. When they arrived outside of the door to the apartment where the suspect was they reportedly could smell marajuana. The police then knocked and shouted they they were there and in return they could hear what sounded like people destroying the evidence and running around. The police then knocked down the door and saw the respondent as well as drugs laying out without having to look anywhere. later the police found more drugs and paraphernalia doing a more in-depth search. “The Circuit Court denied respondent’s motion to suppress the evidence, holding that exigent

Brown V. Board of Education is commonly considered the most important case to date regarding education and civil rights. Education as we know it, would be completely different if The Supreme Court had not ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. I am confident that another case would have come along and changed it later had they not won this case. History would be completely different regarding the war on Civil Rights if things had gone differently. Until this case, many states implemented laws mandating separate schools for white and black students. This historical case made the previous laws established during the former Plessy V. Ferguson case unconstitutional.

The events at Kent State were a catalyst that helped strengthened the American Citizens’ hatred of the Vietnam War and distrust in the Government that promised to end the war.