The Kent State shootings in 1970 resulted in the deaths of four students and wounded nine others, becoming a symbol of the end of the counterculture movement. The event had a chilling effect on opposition to the Vietnam War and sparked protests on college campuses. A series of unfortunate events led to the deployment of the National Guard, who fired on protesters during a rally. Years of litigation followed, but most guards were exonerated. The term “Kent State” became shorthand for government control of domestic protest movements.
On May 4, 1970, a thirteen-second burst of gunfire ended the lives of four Kent State University students and wounded nine others. The tragic event became known simply as “Kent State” or the May 4th shooting. Some popular culture historians view the events and aftermath of Kent State as the figurative death of the 1960s counterculture movement.
The Kent State shootings certainly had a chilling effect on domestic opposition to the Vietnam War. For some, Kent State has become a rallying cry against government oppression, while others have seen it as an attempt to restore a sense of law and order. It seems that the truth lies somewhere in between.
In 1968, Richard Nixon was elected president based in part on a campaign promise to end the war in Vietnam as quickly as possible. Nixon not only failed to reduce troop numbers in Vietnam, he also approved a secret plan to invade neighboring countries such as Cambodia and Laos. When news of this covert expansion of the war reached the United States, a series of protests erupted on college campuses, including Kent State University in the small town of Kent, Ohio. A group of Kent State students, aided by out-of-state protest organizers, decided to hold a demonstration against the Cambodian invasion over the long weekend of May 1-4. The plan was to hold a midday rally on May 4 near Blanket Hill, a large expanse of green space between the student center and other campus buildings.
However, a series of unfortunate events both on and off campus soon created an unstable and conflicted atmosphere. Rowdy patrons at several downtown bars went on a destructive spree on May 1, forcing local business owners to demand immediate action against the college students they held responsible. Although much of the damage was indeed caused by motorcyclists and other non-students, the mayor of Kent has agreed to impose a curfew.
Angered by the city’s actions, a small number of students decided to take out their frustrations by burning down an abandoned ROTC building located on campus. When firefighters arrived to put out the blaze, they were attacked with rocks and had their hoses cut. News of a potential riot on the Kent State campus reached the mayor of Kent, who immediately petitioned Ohio Governor James Rhodes for the deployment of the National Guard.
The arrival of the National Guard, already in the throes of a tense union strike, marked the beginning of a tragic series of misunderstandings. The guards were originally ordered to restore a sense of order following the ROTC incident. Once this was accomplished, their mission became a little less clear. Word of an impending protest had reached the offices of the Mayor of Kent and Governor Rhodes.
There were also rumors of more sinister participants, such as the militant Weather Underground. Undercover FBI agents also reported the presence of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and the Youth International Party (YIP), or Yippies. In short, the noon rally on May 4th would not go ahead as the organizers of the peaceful demonstration had announced.
As the relatively small crowds formed for the protest rally, other students continued to switch classes or simply watch the show from a distance. During one of these class changes, crowds began moving towards the Guards in an attempt to force them out of the assembly area. The guards fired tear gas, which was repelled by the protesters.
During a confused retreat to a Japanese pagoda on higher ground, some of the guards believed they had been ordered to fire into the crowd. Thirteen seconds of gunfire from M-16 rifles erupted, killing four students and wounding nine others. Two of the dead students were not part of the protest, but were simply in the wrong place as they switched classes.
Years of litigation against individual Guards followed after the Kent State shootings, but most were exonerated. Essentially, a commanding officer believed a sniper had been shooting at the troops and made an ambiguous arm wave that some of the guards interpreted as an order to fire. No evidence of a sniper was found, but the courts were sympathetic to the guardsmen who believed they were carrying out legitimate orders. Meanwhile, the term Kent State entered popular culture as shorthand for unchecked government control of domestic protest movements.
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