Kent State Massacre by Jerilyn Nick

• Kent State Massacre



• Sergent Taylor. National Guard. College Students; deceased includes: Jeffery Miller, Sandra Lee Scheuer, Allison Krause, and William Knox Schroeder, with several others wounded.



• May 4, 1970



• Kent State University, Kent, Ohio



• On May 4, 1970, over 2,000 college students gathered at Kent State University near Taylor Hall to protest President Richard Nixon's address on the American invasion of Cambodia. The National Guard was called in, for the campus had disapproved of the rally and feared violence would erupt. After several attempts to disperse the crowd, the National Guard fired on the students, the shootings lasting about 13 seconds. 4 students were killed, 2 of which passerbyes trying to go to class, and several others were injured and/or paralyzed.

• A photograph of a teenager screaming over the body of one of the victims earned the Pulitzer Prize.



• The Kent State Massacre shook the nation. Protests sparked across colleges and other school across the country, and over 10,000 people rioted in Washinton, DC 5 days after the massacre. People were furious at the deaths, but the public was divided on whom to blame for the incident: the Guard for firing, or the students for refusing to dispurse. Over 900 schools were closed during the riots. On June 13th of that year, the president put together the Scranton Commission to figure out if the shootings were justified. They later ruled that they were not.

Because of it's name, the Kent State Massacre is often compared to the Boston Massacre, in which British soldiers fired upon a group of colonists, killing some and injuring numerous others.

• Due to the massacre, the National Guard has had to improve it's methods of crowd control to less leathal ways. The question of self defense was also tested, as well as where the line determining that should be drawn. The riots that occured afterwards demonstrated the public's opposition to the shootings, and the invasion of Columbia. Because of that, another question of whether the riots were "student protest" or "civil war" was raised, for the president had to stay at Camp David during the time, and soldiers stood by to prevent the public from extentive violence.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_state_massacre