Kent State shootings

Monday, May 4th

On Monday, a protest was scheduled to be held at noon, as had been planned three days earlier. University officials attempted to ban the gathering, handing out 12,000 leaflets stating that the event was cancelled. Despite this, an estimated 2,000 people gathered on the university's Commons. The rally was (at least initially) peaceful. The campus's iron victory bell was rung to signal the beginning of the rally, and one speaker started to speak. However, the Guard decided to ban the rally, fearing that it might get out of hand and deteriorate into another violent protest. The legality of the dispersal was later debated at a subsequent wrongful death and injury trial. On appeal, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that authorities did indeed have the right to disperse the crowd.

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Just before noon, the Guard ordered the crowd to disperse and fired tear gas. Because of wind, the tear gas had little effect on dispersing the crowd, some of whom were now responding to the tear gas with rock-throwing and chants of "Pigs off campus!". Some students began to pick up the tear gas canisters and throw them at the National Guardsmen.

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A group of 77 National Guard troops advanced on the hundreds of protesters with bayonets fixed and weapons loaded, in an attempt to disperse the crowd. The National Guardsmen were wearing gas masks and had little training in riot control. They soon found themselves trapped on an athletic practice field which was fenced on three sides, where they remained for ten minutes. The Guardsmen then began to withdraw back in the direction from which they had come, followed by some of the protesters.

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When they reached the top of a hill, 29 of the 77 guardsmen fired a fusillade of 67 shots at the unarmed students. Although the firing was later determined to have lasted only 13 seconds, a New York Times reporter stated that "it appeared to go on, as a solid volley, for perhaps a full minute or a little longer." The question of why the shots were fired is widely debated. The Adjutant General of the Ohio National Guard told reporters that a sniper had fired on the guards, but this was later shown to be false. Many guardsmen later testified that they were in fear for their lives, although the distance of the students at that point makes the claim seem unlikely. Time magazine later concluded that "triggers were not pulled accidentally at Kent State"—a conclusion also reached by several studies about the tragedy. The President's Commission on Campus Conclusion avoided the question of why the shootings happened, but harshly criticized both the protestors and the Guardsmen, concluding that "the indiscriminate firing of rifles into a crowd of students and the deaths that followed were unnecessary, unwarranted, and inexcusable."

Related Topics:
New York Times - Adjutant General

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The shootings killed four students and wounded nine. Two of the four students killed, Allison Krause and Jeffrey Miller, had participated in the protest, and the other two, Sandra Scheuer and William Schroeder, were simply walking from one class to the next. Schroeder was also a member of the campus ROTC chapter. Of those wounded, none was closer than 71 feet (22 m) to the guardsmen. Of those killed, the nearest (Miller) was 265 feet (81 m) away (nearly the length of an American football field).

Related Topics:
Allison Krause - Jeffrey Miller - Sandra Scheuer - William Schroeder - ROTC

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Killed (and approximate distance from the National Guard):

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• Allison Krause (343 feet/105 meters)
• Jeffrey Glen Miller (265 feet/81 meters)
• Sandra Lee Scheuer (390 feet/119 meters)
• William Knox Schroeder (382 feet/116 meters)

Wounded: (and approximate distance from the National Guard)

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• Thomas Mark Grace (unverified; between 60 and 200 feet/18 and 61 meters)
• Joseph Lewis (71 feet/22 meters)
• John Cleary (110 feet/34 meters)
• Alan Canfora (225 feet/69 meters)
• Dean Kahler (300 feet/91 meters)
• Douglas Wrentmore (329 feet/100 meters)
• James Dennis Russell (375 feet/114 meters)
• Robert Stamps (495 feet/151 meters)
• Donald MacKenzie (750 feet/229 meters)

Immediately after the shootings, many angry students were ready to launch an all-out attack on the National Guard. Many faculty members, led by geology professor and faculty marshal Glenn Frank, pleaded with the students to leave the Commons and to not give in to violent escalation. After 20 minutes of difficult speaking, the students left the Commons. Ambulances came and tended to the wounded, and the Guard left the area.

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