 |
On May 1, 1970 Kent State
students held an anti-war protest. This protest included throwing of rocks and
bottles being thrown at police officers and bonfires. This led to bars being
closed by authorities before normal closing time to try reduce alcohol
consumption. Eventually students, other anti-war activists, and common
criminals began to break windows and loot stores.
The mayor of Kent declared a state of emergency on
May 2. He requested that Governor James A. Rhodes send the Ohio National Guard
to Kent to keep the peace. Rhodes agreed, and the National Guard arrived that
night. The soldiers arrived, and decided on tear gas to disperse the
protesters.
By May 3, approximately one thousand National Guard
soldiers were on the Kent State campus. On May 4, classes resumed at Kent
State. Anti-war protesters scheduled a rally for noon at the campus. University
officials tried to stop the gathering but were unsuccessful. As the protest
began, National Guard members fired tear gas at the demonstrators. However, due
to wind, the tear gas proved ineffective. Some of the protesters threw the
canisters, even rocks, back at the soldiers. Twenty-eight guardsmen open
fired on the crowd, the gunfire lasted just thirteen seconds,
firing a total of sixty-seven shots, killing four students and
wounding nine. Two of the students who died had not even participated in
the protests.
These shootings helped convince the public that the
anti-war protesters were not just hippies, and drug addicts. That they also
included middle, upper-class, and educated people. Rather than causing a
decline in protests, the Kent State Shootings actually escalated them. The
various protests drew to an end as President Nixon began to withdraw soldiers
from North and South Vietnam. With the signing of the Paris Peace Accords in 1973,
the protests ended.
The picture was taken by John Filo, of Mary Ann
Vecchio. Vecchio, a 14-year-old runaway, is kneeling over the body of Jeffrey
Miller just minutes after he was shot by the Ohio National Guard. John Filo
later won a Pulitzer Prize for this photo the same year.
 |
| The four Kent State Students that were killed. |
http://www.kentstate1970.org/timeline/may4th1970
This is a sad and eye opening event in american history. Military presence should not be used against civilians, especially those of our own nation. Is this the only domestic shooting involving military?
ReplyDeleteAh you have to simply love the ever idiotic idea of shooting live ammunition to stop protestors. Sure the teargas wasn't effective due to the wind but there are other options. Then again perhaps I should trade the term "idiotic" for what really should be there isntead: "American". Afterall with the American Way why actually put time and effort into something like de-escalating protest when you can just cheese your way out by killing them instead!
ReplyDeleteSadly I'm not surprised the protests increased after the shooting but it does make you question whether or not even the higher ups knew what they were doing.
I think its sad what happened but today in this world and back then this stuff is common and doesn't surprise me.
ReplyDeleteReading about the Kent State shootings always upset me. Violence is something that is so vile and evil and when innocents are involved, it always ups the sensitivity of the issue. The fact that two people died who were not even involved in the protests to me shows the severity and also evil of violence as well. Violence can be taken out of hand all too easily, and I believe that that is what happened in Kent.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to see that the shooting of the protesters had an adverse effect to what the government wanted to happen.
ReplyDeleteIt's tragic to see these young students being killed, also the countless teenage draftees who were killed in the war. This conflict was a horrible time in our history.
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy how something so bad could happen close to home. I never thought things like shooting and terrorism would happen close to me.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand why the soldiers found it necessary to shot at the students, there are other less violent ways to stop protests. Even though the students did not need to throw objects at the police, the shootings were completely unnecessary.
ReplyDeleteThis was an event that made us as Americans think about protest and military personal being involved in them. This was a tradgic event in US history and its scary to think that something like that happened so close to us even though it was a while ago. I have a friend that goes to Kent State so its weird to even think of that as the same school.
ReplyDeleteCrazy how people who are young and passionate can have a huge impact on issues like this.
ReplyDelete