City Of Kent And Students example essay topic

The Kent State Shooting On the fourth of May, 1970, the world was shocked by what happened on the campus of Kent State. The unnecessary deaths of four students and the wounding and maiming of nine more was enough to shock the world. A peaceful demonstration turned into a blood bath when the National Guard opened fire on the protesters. Students came out on the Kent State campus and scores of others to protest the bombing of Cambodia, a decision of President Nixon's that appeared to expand the Vietnam War.

Some rocks were thrown, some windows were broken, and an attempt was made to burn the ROTC building. Governor James Rhodes sent in the National Guard. After the shooting, the citizens of the nation took various stands on the issue. Opinions ranged from a vast overuse of force to a completely justifiable act of self-defense. Kent State became a much talked about and troublesome in American homes. Members of the 'Silent Majority' expressed horror at what happened to the protestors, but felt that a civilized society had an obligation to maintain a sense of law and order.

There were a few reasons for the shootings occurring. The town of Kent and the university were barely able to stand one another. Nixon had alienated many young people by lying about the escalation of the Vietnam War. Many of these young people had felt betrayed when news leaked out about Nixon's secret war in Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand. Students had begun forming action committees to study possible protest strategies.

Rumors and hearsay were running rampant with tales of what was going to happen or what could happen. The national Guardsmen had just come from another riot were ill trained, and had slept little between their last posting and their new posting. The thought of the rumors being true put everyone on guard and caused nerves to fray. In order to understand what happened at Kent State, one must understand the town of Kent. Portage County had two cities large enough to support a proposed Teacher's College.

Ravenna was a prosperous community, with a name for being a little rough around the edges. Kent was a quieter town, with a successful grain-processing industry. When Ravenna became the county seat, Kent was given the low honor, in its opinion, of hosting the new college. At first, Kent embraced the economic shot in the arm represented by a state facility. After many years, however, the flood of out-of-state students with liberal leanings began to wear on the nerves of Kent's more conventional citizens. By the late 1960's, the city of Kent and the Kent State campus were barely tolerant of each other.

Students who visited the downtown bars were occasionally destructive, and the 'townie' crowd did not appreciate having to fix the damages themselves. By 1970, tensions between city officials and University leaders were obvious. The town of Kent braced for the usual end-of-class mayhem that weekend. Rowdy groups of students began milling around the downtown streets. Several townie biker groups were also present.

The atmosphere became charged with negative energy from both sides. After being informed of the events, Kent Mayor Leroy Satrom declared a "state of emergency", and arbitrarily ordered all of the bars closed. Kent police, along with the mayor, then confronted the crowd. The riot act was read and police proceeded to clear the area.

People inside the bars were ordered to leave, forcing hundreds more into the streets. As the bars began closing their doors early to avoid trouble, the students became more agitated. Finally, violence erupted. The crowd was herded toward the campus with tear gas and knight sticks, which was in the opposite direction in which some of them lived. Fourteen persons, mostly stragglers, were arrested.

Store windows were smashed, property was vandalized and shops were looted. About $5000 in damage was done as 43 windows were broken 28 in one bank. These actions had a lot to do with the town / college tensions that had been brewing for a long time. On the second of May, concerned students came into downtown Kent to offer their time and services with cleanup efforts. While many shop owners appreciated this gesture, others were demanding an end to the violence that caused the damage. Rumors of radical activities were widespread, and Kent's ROTC building was believed to be the target of militant students that evening.

During the Vietnam War, students on many college campuses opposed the presence of ROTC and often were successful in forcing the removal of ROTC from their campuses. Kent's mayor agreed that some decisive action was necessary, a dusk to dawn curfew was imposed on the city of Kent, and students were restricted to the campus. By restricting students to camps, the mayor was allowing the students feelings to build to the point where they snapped. Angered by the city's sudden curfew, students once again looted downtown Kent. In response to this action, the mayor contacted Ohio governor James Rhodes, asking for state-level assistance in dealing with the violence.

Rhodes, a political conservative, ordered a division of National Guardsmen into Kent, supposedly to restore peace in the downtown district, not the campus itself. These Guardsmen were already involved with a volatile strike in Akron, and were not anxious to go into yet another dangerous situation. Being how the Guardsmen were tired and recently in action, assigning them to control these protests and riots may not have been the best of ideas. KSU officials were unaware of this decision. Shortly after 8 p. m., about 300 people gathered on the Commons, where a few anti-war slogans were chanted and a few brief speeches given. An impromptu march began and participants headed towards the dormitories to gain strength.

Large numbers of people joined the march. The now 2,000 marches swarmed the hill overlooking the Commons, crossed the Commons. Then they surrounded the ROTC building, an old wooden World War II barracks that was scheduled to be demolished. Windows were broken and a few persons eventually set the building on fire.

While attempting to extinguish the fire, several Kent firemen and police officers were pelted with rocks and other projectiles by those standing near the fire. The crowd of students attacked the firemen and slashed their hoses. Again, a call for action went out. Police surrounded the building and dispersed the students with tear gas.

The firemen again got the fire under control. The crowd then moved to the front of the campus. The students retreated to the Commons to find the ROTC building smoldering at both ends. Within minutes, the building was fully ablaze. The crowd then assembled on the wooded hillside beside the Commons and watched as the building burned. Many shouted anti- war slogans.

The National Guard entered the campus for the first time. Armed with tear gas and drawn bayonets, the guard pursued students, protesters and bystanders alike, into dormitories and other campus buildings. Some stones were thrown and at least one student was bayoneted. The National Guard set up camp directly on campus. On the third of May, the day before the shootings, the campus was completely occupied by Ohio National Guard troops. Armored personnel carriers were stationed throughout campus.

The feeling on campus was one of mutual hostility. That Ohio Governor James Rhodes, who was running for the US Senate, arrived in Kent and along with city officials, held a news conference. Rhodes was running on a "law and order" platform, attempted to use this opportunity to gain votes in the primary election which was two days away. Rhodes claimed that the demonstrations were the handiwork of a highly organized band of revolutionaries who were out to "destroy higher education in Ohio". Rhodes went on about the protestors being "the worst type of people we harbor in America, worse than the brown shirts and communist element... we will use whatever force necessary to drive them out of Kent!" Rhodes was essentially telling the nation that anyone who would protest injustices that they feel effect them are the worst people to ever walk the face of the planet. For Rhodes to say something like that in public, he must have been afraid of what could happen to his political career should the protestors be successful and their views become those of the masses.

That evening, a National Guard commander told his troops that Ohio law gave them the right to shoot if necessary. This disclosure merely heightened the guardsmen's hostility towards the students. At around 8 p. m., a crowd gathered on the Commons near the Victory Bell. As the group increased in size, Guard officials announced the immediate enforcement of a new curfew. The crowd refused to disperse. At 9 p.m. the Ohio Riot act was read.

Tear gas was fired from helicopters hovering overhead, and the Guard dispersed the crowd from the area. Attempting to demonstrate that the curfew was unnecessary by peacefully marching towards the town, the KSU Students were met by guardsmen. Students then staged a spur-of-the-moment sit in at the intersection of East Main and Lincoln Streets and demanded that Mayor Satrom and KSU president Robert White speak with them about the Guard's presence on campus. Assured that this demand would be met, the crowd agreed to move from the street onto the front lawn of campus.

Unfortunately for the students, they were then betrayed by the Guard who announced the curfew would go into effect immediately. For the second time in as many nights, helicopters and tear gas were used to disperse the demonstrators. As the students attempted to escape, some were bayoneted and clubbed by guardsmen. Students were pursed back to their dormitories. Campus was inundated with tear gas and helicopters with searchlights hovered overhead throughout the night. This was the second time that the students had been attacked by the National Guardsmen.

This second time they were betrayed, their wishes were never followed and I wonder if the Mayor and the President of the school were even told that the students asked for them. May fourth, 1970, a day that was to be remembered for decades to come. Started like any Monday morning, Students streaming in and out of class buildings, and discussing the weekend's strange turn of events. For most of the students, the presence of the National Guard was a curiosity. Many of the students were not planning on attending the rally at 11: 00, but were curious to see how it would turn out. Those who were planning on attending the rally started milling about in the Commons area.

As the number of students milling about the Commons increased, the Guardsmen began a series of drills intended to generate a sense of control over the crowd. These maneuvers were standard procedure, consisting mostly of marches and organized retreats. The more politically active students started taunting the Guardsmen verbally, but the troops paid little attention. As the crowd grew larger, the Guardsmen began to feel uneasy about their vulnerable position in the open field. Rumors had been spreading about snipers, and FBI agents were seen in the crowd. Approximately 116 men, equipped with loaded M-1 rifles and tear gas, formed a skirmish line towards the students.

Aware of bayonet injuries of the previous evening, students immediately ran away from the attacking National Guardsmen. Retreating up Blanket Hill, some students lobbed tear gas canisters back at the advancing troops. In order to regain a position of power and control, the Guardsmen began a march up Blanket Hill, towards a decorative Japanese pagoda. By now, the Guardsmen were wearing full gas masks, and had difficulty communicating.

Tear gas had been thrown into the crowd as a defensive tactic, but the students threw the canisters back towards the Guard formation. As noon approached, the size of the crowd increased to 1,500. Some were merely spectators, while others had gathered specifically to protest the invasion of Cambodia and the continued presence of the National Guard on the campus. After clearing the Commons, the Guard marched over the crest of Blanket Hill, firing tear gas and dispersing the students into a wider area. The Guard marched down the hill and onto a practice football field where for approximately ten minutes, the guard stayed in position.

During that ten minutes, tear gas canisters were thrown back and forth from the Guard's position to a small group of student's in the Prentice Hall parking lot, about 100 yards away. Some students responded to the guardsmen's attack by throwing stones. Guardsmen also threw stones at the students. But because of the distance, most stones from both parties fell far short of their targets. While on the practice field, members of Troop G knelt and aimed their weapons at the students in the parking lot.

The vast majority of the students present were spectators on the veranda of Taylor Hall. General Canterbury, the commanding officer of the Guards, concluded that the crowd had been dispersed and ordered the Guard to march back to the commons area. After reassembling on the field, the Guardsmen seemed to begin to retreat as they marched back up the hill, retracing their previous steps. While advancing / retreating up the hill, the members of Troop G continued to glance back at the parking lot where the most militant and vocal students were located. The students assumed the confrontation was over. Many students began to walk to their next classes.

As the guard reached the crest of the Blanket Hill, seconds before they would have passed around the corner of the Pagoda of Taylor Hall, about a dozen members of Troop G simultaneously turned around 180 degrees, aimed and fired their weapons into the crowd in the Prentice Hall parking lot. What followed was a 13 second barrage of gunfire, mostly from M-1 rifles, aimed at the students protesting in the parking lot. A total of 67 bullets were fired by the guardsmen from the hilltop over the span of thirteen seconds. Most of the bullets were fired over 300 feet into the distant Prentice Hall parking lot. Two of the students killed, Allison Krause and Jeff Miller, were protesters. Two others, Sandy Scheuer and Bill Schroeder were bystanders.

Jeff was killed 275 feet away from his killer. Allison was 350 feet away. Sandy Scheuer and Bill Schroeder were approximately 390 feet away. Nine other students were wounded by stray gunfire. Guardsmen, none of whom were later punished, civilly, administratively, or criminally, admitted firing at specific unarmed targets; one man shot a demonstrator who was giving him the finger.

The closest student shot was fully sixty feet away; all but one was more than 100 feet away; all but two were more than 200 feet away. One of the dead was 255 feet away; the rest were 300 to 400 feet away. The most distant student shot was more than 700 feet from the Guardsmen. One man, Alan Canfora, was shot in the wrist while attempting to hide behind a tree out of the line of fire.

He believed that the Guardsmen were firing blanks, just to scare the students, until a live round passed through his wrist. He discovered that the troops were firing live ammunition and that they tended to aim at protestors who had been antagonizing the Guard. Canfora found that during the next ten to twelve seconds, the tree that he hid behind had saved his life by absorbing several bullets that would have hit him. In the aftermath of the shooting, the actions of the Guardsmen were reviewed and it was found that the Guardsmen were in no physical danger at the time of the shooting, the crowd was not pursuing them, and they were mere seconds from being out of sight.

There are a lot of questions as to why this happened. One that stands out in my mind is why the ROTC building was not fully extinguished? Were the firefighters to tired to put out the whole fire? Or was there a motive behind their actions?

By allowing the building to burn down, the town and police officials could claim that the protesters were so violent that they were not able to repel the students and put out the fire all at the same time. This would give the National Guard a good excuse to come on to campus, where they were not meant to go, and quell the protests. If this was the case, then the town officials and the National Guard were conspiring to find a way to make it possible to send in the Guard. The fire at the ROTC building was a good excuse. Another thing that springs to my mind is that the Guardsmen had covered or removed their name tags and wore gas masks so identifying them would be difficult. By doing this, the Guardsmen were advertising that they were going to do something; this was a classic ploy of law enforcement officers about to commit brutality.

The students should have been conscious of the fact that the Guardsmen were unidentifiable. By covering their tags, I believe that the Guardsmen knew exactly what they were doing when they opened fire on the students. Those troops who opened fire using lethal force were the ones who had been subjected to the worst abuse and that the stress of the past few days and weeks may have got to them. My final question on the matter is why wasn't there any ballistics evidence taken from the scene to match to the guns of the troops to see who fired.

Had the ballistics been checked, then they could have known who had fire and who had not. Who had killed someone and who had not? The New York City police, who are themselves prone to brutality and corruption, do a better job. Every time an officer discharges his weapon, it is taken from him, and there is an investigation.

With no ballistics records, then there could be no proper investigation to find who discharged their rifles and who didn't. The only people who know for sure are the Guardsmen; the commanding officer must have counted cartridges and been able to find out who had fired, and the troops themselves knew who fired. The Nixon administration stalled for years, announcing "investigations" that led nowhere; White House tapes subsequently released show that Nixon thought demonstrators were bums, and apparently felt that the Kent State victims had it coming. As did most of the country; William Gordon calls the killings "the most popular murders ever committed in the United States".

With the administration willing to kill its own people to quite then, those people who protested were some of the bravest souls walking the earth. Those men and women who went over to Vietnam and were fighting someone else's war, were brave and heroic, but the men and women who protested the war were just as brave because they had to worry about getting shoot by their fellow citizens. Of the four students killed in the shooting, President Nixon only called the parents of one student who was known to be a bystander and a member of the ROTC to offer his condolences. The other parents only got phone calls telling them that their beloved children were dead. America in those times was perfectly willing to harass, beat and kill its own children if they disagreed with government policy. The step from being a member of the protected American mainstream to being a marginalized outsider, not entitled to the protection of law enforcement and fair game to any violent, flag-waving bully who happened to pass, was to stand up and say you did not believe that the Vietnam War was right.