Kent State Massacre

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Kent State Massacre

• The anti-war protests of the counterculture
  through out the week leading up to May 4th , 1970
  pushed the government to their breaking point
  resulting in the Ohio National Guard firing upon
  unarmed college students at Kent State University

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Kent State Massacre

• Occured on May 4th, 1970. At Kent State
  University in Kent, Ohio
• Also known as the May 4th Massacre and the Kent
  State Shootings

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What was the Kent State Massacre?

• The shooting of unarmed college students by the
  Ohio National Guard in response to a protest
  against the invasion of Cambodia during the
  Vietnam War

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How Many Students Died Or Were Wounded?

• Four students died Allison Krause, Jeffrey
  Miller, Sandra Scheuer, William Schroeder.
• Nine students were injured, one of whom was
  parayzed

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The Specifics Of the Shootings

• Shootings lasted 13 seconds
• 67 shots were fired

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Leading Up to the Shootings

• On April 30th President Nixon announced that the
  military would invade Cambodia
• The reaction of the students at Kent State was
  much like that of other students around the
  country
• Students held a protest on May 1, 1970 at the
  Victory Bell on the campus of Kent State
• Started of as a peaceful demonstration

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Leading Up to the Shootings

• Progressed later that night into an anti-war
  rally in downtown Kent as students left the bars
• Students set a bonfire in the street, threw
  bottles at police and broke windows
• The mayor of Kent, Leroy Satron, declared a state
  of emergency
• Police used tear gas and batons to get the
  students back to campus

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Saturday, May 2nd

• The mayor instituted a dusk to dawn curfew and
  students were restricted to campus
• There were rumors that the ROTC Building was
  going to be a target of militant students (in the
  first 2 weeks of May, 30 ROTC Buildings were
  burned on campuses across the nation)
• The mayor alerted the Ohio National Guard but did
  not tell the Kent State officials

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Saturday, May 2nd

• An anti-war march began around 8 p.m.
• 2000 students marched to the ROTC Building
• Windows were broken and someone set fire to the
  building
• Firemen were called but students attacked the
  firemen/hoses
• Police surrounded the building and used tear gas
  to disperse the students

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Sunday, May 3rd

• Kent State was fully occupied by the Ohio
  National Guard
• The governor of Ohio, James Rhodes, gave a speech
  on campus saying that they would use whatever
  force needed to drive the protesters out of Kent
• The National Guard was told they could shoot if
  it was necessary

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Sunday, May 3rd

• Again at 8 p.m. a crowd gathered around the
  Victory Bell
• The National Guard issued a new curfew and
  ordered the crowd to disperse
• The crowd refused
• Tear gas was fired from helicopters
• Students moved and staged a sit-in
• Students wanted an explanation from the mayor on
  why the Ohio National Guard was there

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Sunday, May 3rd

• The mayor agreed to meet with students only if
  they went back to campus
• When they returned to campus the National Guard
  again shot tear gas from helicopters at the
  students
• They were then beaten with bayonets and some were
  stabbed as they were herded back into their dorms

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Monday, May 4th

• The Ohio National Guard was not allowing any mass
  gatherings of students on campus
• Around noon a group of about 1500 students
  gathered on the commons to protest the invasion
  of Cambodia and the presence of the National
  Guard
• Students were told to disperse
• When they wouldnt the general ordered the
  guardsmen to disperse them

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Monday, May 4th

• Knowing that students had been injured during the
  skirmish the night before the students began to
  flee the attacking guardsmen
• The guardsmen followed firing tear gas
• Some students threw the tear gas back
• Students reached a parking lot where they began
  throwing stones at the guards who had stopped
  their advancement at the football field.
• The guards began to throw the stones back

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Monday, May 4th

• General Canterbury ordered the guard back because
  the crowd had been dispersed
• As Troop G was retreating about a dozen or so
  soldiers turned and fired their guns into the
  crowd in the parking lot
• 67 shots in 13 seconds 9 injured and four dead

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The Aftermath

• Hundreds of universities, colleges, and high
  schools shut down due to a nation wide strike of
  students
• The shootings have become a symbol of the Vietnam
  War protests
• Crosby, Stills, Nash Young wrote Ohio which
  was a response to the Kent State Massacre

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Legal Aftermath

• In court the case against eight guardsmen was
  dismissed because it was ruled that there was not
  enough evidence to prove they didnt act in
  self-defense
• The Ohio National Guard never released an
  apology, however they issued a statement that
  said the shootings should not have happened but
  because of prior events the guardsmen felt their
  lives were in danger

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Conflicting Views

• General says they were fired upon by a sniper
• Guardsmen say they fired in self-defense and they
  were in fear of their lives

• Students say the crowd had dispersed
• They were going back to their dorms and classes
• They posed no threat
• Guardsmen conspired to shoot before they reached
  the top of the hill

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(No Transcript)
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Works Cited

• Brewster, Todd, and Peter Jennings. The Century
  for Young People. New York, New York Random
  House, Inc., 1999.
• Crosby, Stills, Nash Young (1970). Ohio
  Recorded by Crosby, Stills, Nash Young. On
  CSNY CD. Los Angeles, California Broken Arrow
  Music.
• Ferrell, R. H. (Ed.). (1984). The Twentieth
  Century An Almanac. New York, New      York
  World Almanac Publications.
• Hensley, T. R., Lewis, J. M. (n.d.). The May
  4th Shootings At Kent State       University
  The Search for Historical Accuracy. Retrieved May
  25, 2009,       from Sociology Department of
  Kent State Web site http//dept.kent.edu/
     sociology/lewis/lewihen.htm
• Kent State 1970 Description of Events May 1
  through May 4. (n.d.). Kent May 4      Center.
  Retrieved May 25, 2009, from http//www.may4.org/?
  qnode/5