Kent State Shootings

Powell’s images show how gasses were used to painfully slow the processes of peaceful protest.

There are many differences and similarities between the Boston Massacre and the Kent State shooting.

This video shows how protesters block all lanes of I-94. The police officers gave them twenty five warning to leave. Yet, some people chose to stay and continue to protest. According to the police, the protest turned into a riot and some people threw rocks and bottles on the freeway. During this act of violence, twenty one police officers were injured. In order to cease those protestors, the police officer used non-irritant smoke and sprayed mace. At the end of the protest, 50 people were arrested for three degree rioting.

The Columbine school shooting happened at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado on April 21, 1999. Two students, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, went into their school with guns and explosives with the intentions of killing as many people as possible. The two students killed twelve students, one teacher, and injured many more students before each of the shooters committed suicide (Curtis 3). If a teacher was given the right training and carrying a firearm, they could have stopped Klebold and Harris sooner and less students would have been wounded and murdered.

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?

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.

Columbine and Virginia Tech were definitely two of the biggest, but not one of the first mass shootings on school grounds. On August 1, 1966, a mass shooting took place at the University of Texas. A 25 ex-marine named Charles Whitman, who majored in architectural engineering, murdered his mother and wife that morning. Whitman climbed on top of the UT Tower and started firing. “The crime scene spanned the length of five city blocks… and covered the nerve of what was then a relatively small, quiet college town.”

On May 4, 1970, Kent State Massacre occurred at the Kent State University in Ohio. Four Kent University students were shot dead, and nine other students were injured during the massacre by Ohio National Guardsmen (Cano, 2010). The massacre was the result of protest going on in the campus premises by the students who showed dissatisfaction about the then President’s decision of attacking Cambodia during the Vietnam War.

At Kent State University in Ohio, there was several memorable events. Like the destruction of protestors launching a demonstration that included setting fire to the ROTC building causing the governor of Ohio to dispatch 900 National Guardsmen to the campus. On May 4th, 1970 was a tragic event for Kent State University. During that day an altercation occurred with twenty eight guardsmen opening fire on a crowd causing the killings of 4 students and wounding nine others. Almost 500 colleges were shut down due to this fatal shooting around the United States of America. “The Justice Department initially declined to conduct a Grand jury investigation. The actions of the guardsmen had been “unnecessary, unwarranted, and inexcusable.” A Grand jury indicted eight of the guardsmen, but the charges were dismissed due to the lack of evidence. The Kent State shootings became the focal point of a nation deeply divided by the Vietnam War. Since the tragic event, the Kent State shootings were the subject of the 1970 song "Ohio" by the group Crosby, Stills, Nash, and young.

On April 30, 1970 President Nixon had officially announced that the United States was going to war in Vietnam. The next day a huge group of students at Kent State University, in Ohio, were protesting. As well as many other students at different Universities across the country. Everyone was protesting the bombing that was happening in Cambodia as well as the United States involvement the Vietnam War. What started as a somewhat peaceful protest, turned very violent. The students at Kent State set the ROTC building on fire. The local police force was called in which did not do much help. Kent’s Mayor called the Governor of Ohio, James Rhodes, and asked to send help. Rhodes sent The Ohio National Guard to Kent State. When the national guard got

The slogan adopted by SDS “A free university in a free society”(117) states Morgan. This believe shows that the students were going to fight back and it will also causes violence in the community. Based on the pictures provided by the professor it is safe to assume that the violence brought attention and coverage of the people’s park protest. The militarization of the campus showed how the government wasn’t to be trusted. Which showed the people that the war at home was possible. Similarly to the war in Vietnam the militarization of the campus shows that the US maybe one of the “greatest threat to peace in the world”(130) Paul Potter from SDS quoted Morgan..

“The violent scenes at Standing Rock last night were nothing short of horrific," Greenpeace said. "It is clear that the militarized police response has completely disregarded the protection of human life. Law enforcement put people’s lives in danger last night as water protectors attempted to clear a path for emergency services to reach the camp," says Angela Bibens in an interview with USA Today. This shows that the law enforcement got so caught up in people being safe, and being able to get to medical help, that they physically hurt them and denied their right of speech and protest. This lead to even more people hurt than before, and lead to a lot more protesters. When the government acted against people protesting, people became angry, and chaos broke

The demonstrators chanting “Death to the Taliban”, clashed with the police, prompting the firing of warning shots, tear gas and the usage of water cannons to disperse the crowd trying

More than 5000 people presented themselves without passes, demanding to be arrested. This demonstration grew throughout the day, and sometime in the afternoon, police began shooting, killing sixty-nine people. Many were shot in the back as they tried to run