Kent State

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Kent State

• May 4, 1970

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On Friday, May 1, about 500 students quietly
protested the Vietnam War at Kent State
University in Kent, Ohio.
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The students went out that night and caused
problems, such as hitting a police car with a
beer can and starting a fire in the middle of the
street.
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The mood turned violent and police were brought
in with riot gear. After this, a 800 p.m. curfew
was put into effect. For the next few days, the
streets are quiet at night.
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At 600 p.m. on May 2, students begin a protest
on the school grounds. In two hours the crowd
grew to 600 people.
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After 800 p.m. the crowd is well over a
thousand. The crowd tossed rocks at the ROTC
building and start it on fire. The protesters
hacked up the fire hoses and let the building
burn.
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Shortly after, 900 National Guard members station
themselves on the campus. They use tear gas and
rifles to control the crowd.
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Sunday, May 3rd, there were helicopters hovering
the campus. Ohio governor, Rhodes, arrives to
have a meeting with the student body president.
This results in conflicting views.
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Students received a flyer telling them not to
rally, and a curfew of 800 p.m. to 100 a.m. on
campus. But not every student saw this flyer.
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900 p.m. on Sunday, the students hold a peaceful
rally. The crowd is told to go home. When they
do not, guardsmen fire tear gas into the crowd.
This makes the crowd turn violent.
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Monday, May 4th. The students begin to gather
around noon.
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More than two thousand students were gathered in
the commons area. Although they were not
rallying, guardsmen began to patrol.
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Students throw rocks and guardsmen fire tear gas.
The guardsmen were outnumbered and found
themselves trapped between the crowd and a fence.
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The guardsmen fired 65 shots, some into the air,
others into the crowd.
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Many of the students believed that the guardsmen
were shooting blanks.
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Four students were killed Allison Krause,
William Schroeder, Sandra Lee Scheuer, and
Jeffrey Miller. Nine others were wounded.
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Although students were scared, they were more
angry and refused to leave campus.
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Within the next few days, all students, faculty
and staff were ordered to leave. The students
finished their classes by mail. More than 200
colleges across the country were shut down in
fear of peace rallies causing similar events.
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People pushed for a trial of the guardsmen who
killed the students.
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It took five years, but the guardsmen were
brought to trial. The jury agreed with the
National Guard and the families of the dead
received nothing.
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A retrial in 1978 gave the victims 675,000 to be
split 13 ways.
22
This photograph won the Pulitzer Prize and became
eerily famous
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Ohio by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young Released
10 days after the shooting

• Tin soldiers and Nixon's coming
• We're finally on our own
• This summer I hear the drumming
• Four dead in Ohio

• Gotta get down to it
• Soldiers are gunning us down
• Should have been done long ago
• What if you knew her and
• Found her dead on the ground
• How can you run when you know