Peace movement turned deadly
The student protests at Kent State University in Ohio became a flashpoint of anti-war student protests. The day after Nixon announced the Cambodian campaign, hundreds of students gathered to denounce the war and clashed with local law enforcement.
The Ohio National Guard was mobilized to the campus the next day to quell the disorder, but by the time they arrived, protesters had set fire to the school’s ROTC building.
A major protest was scheduled for May 4, 1970, and about 100 Guardsmen armed with military rifles were stationed to crack down on the demonstration. The event was initially peaceful, but after Ohio National Guard General Robert Canterbury ordered them to disperse, protesters began throwing rocks and shouting at the soldiers.
The Guardsmen fired tear gas in a bid to disperse the crowd of protesters but were eventually cornered against the enclosed football field nearby. In the span of 13 seconds, witnesses said the Guardsmen fired nearly 70 shots into the crowd. Four students were killed, and nine were injured.
In a settlement with injured students and their families, the Ohio National Guard said some of the soldiers feared for their lives, and “hindsight suggests that another method would have resolved the confrontation.”
Less than two weeks after the Kent State shootings, students gathered at Jackson State College, a historically Black university in Mississippi, to protest a number of issues including the Vietnam War and racial discrimination. The demonstration escalated as student protesters and passersby threw rocks and bricks at responding law enforcement, and a civilian set a dump truck on fire.
In 30 seconds, police discharged over 150 rounds at the crowd of protesters, killing two people — Jackson State junior Phillip L. Gibbs and high school senior James Earl Green. Twelve others were injured.
Rep. Ilhan Omar, whose daughter was arrested during the Gaza protests at Columbia, recalled the Kent State shootings on the 54th anniversary of the tragedy.
“We can’t silence those expressing dissent, no matter how uncomfortable their protests may be to those in power,” Omar wrote in a social media post.
