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Kent State Massacre

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Title: Kent State Massacre


1
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

2
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

3
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

4
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

5
The Specifics Of the Shootings
  • Shootings lasted 13 seconds
  • 67 shots were fired

6
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

7
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

8
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

9
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

10
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

11
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

12
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

13
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

14
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

15
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

16
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

17
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

18
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

19
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20
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
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