The Kent State Shooting — Forgotten History

This past Saturday, May 4th, was the 49th anniversary of the Kent State Shooting. Scrolling through social media I noticed that there was a worrying amount of misinformation being spread about the event. It seems that the shooting is widely known but no one knows the details behind what led up to the shooting, even people I have talked to who lived during that time do not recall much other than the shooting itself. There was so much more to it than just National Guardsmen opening fire on civilian protesters as the usual narrative states. The days and hours leading up to the shooting paints a very different picture than what is commonly told.

Overview

Kent is a small town situated just 30 miles from Cleveland Ohio. It is home to Kent State University and the conservative town’s population was made up more by college students than by actual residents. It was a quiet place that saw little disturbance, never needing more than a few officers on duty at any one time. One might wonder how this school with a population of mostly conservative and apolitical students who rarely gave any trouble became a hotspot of controversy that led to one of the defining moments of the late Vietnam War era.

Courtesy of Cape Girardeau History and Photos

Kent State was targeted by radical protest groups that seeked to mobilize students against the government. The two main groups were the Black United Students (BUS) and Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). Specifically they wanted to draw attention to the mistreatment of blacks and protest the US involvement in Vietnam. SDS had four specific demands: get rid of Kent’s ROTC program, removal of the Liquid Crystals Lab which did scientific research for the military, remove the state crime laboratory, and abolish their law enforcement program. They found a very receptive audience in America’s youth as every night people watched the death toll of US servicemen rise. Anti-war sentiment exploded sharply in college students on April 30, just days before the shooting, when Richard Nixon announced that US troops would be sent into Cambodia. Cambodia was targeted because they aided the North Vietnamese Army. Another issue that struck a nerve with college students was the ending of college deferment. College deferment exempted most students from having to participate in the draft and without it anyone that fit the requirements was at risk of being drafted.

Another issue was that students, especially black students, felt that the campus police were targeting and punishing them unfairly. The protest groups, rising casualties, and fear of being drafted created a ripe environment for unrest to happen.

Friday May 1

May the first saw two protests on campus. The first protest was an anti war protest put on by graduate students who buried a copy of the US Constitution, symbolically saying that President Nixon had killed it by circumventing Congress and invading Cambodia without an official declaration of war. Many students gathered to watch the protest but it remained peaceful and police did not intervene.

The second protest was held by BUS and was to bring attention to the mistreatment of blacks by campus police. Again this garnered some student interest but remained peaceful. After this brief protest the black students and organizations at Kent would not play any major role leading up to the shooting and the reason why will be talked about later. These two protests would be a jumping off point for what would become a very tumultuous weekend.

That evening was one of the first warm spring nights of the year and many college students were taking advantage of it by filling the bars downtown. Teens from other colleges and cities were even coming in as Kent was the only town within about 50 miles that did not prohibit the sale of alcohol. Everything was going well, students were listening to local bands and having a good time until the police received a call around 11pm. Some students at a downtown bar had become particularly rowdy and the crowd spilled out into the street. Influenced by anti war protesters a group of students overturned a trash can and lit the contents on fire. When police arrived they were mercilessly pelted with rocks and beer bottles, forcing them to leave.

At the time only 10 police were on duty and the police chief had to call in reinforcements from the county sheriff's office. By this time the crowd had swelled to 500. Some anti-war protesters were stopping cars and asking people about Cambodia and their beliefs on the war, they also talked to store owners and threatened them if they did not denounce the war. Then students, along with just regular criminals started breaking storefronts and looting them. 30 officers came to the scene outfitted in riot gear and used tear gas to disperse the crowd. Mayor Satrom declared a state of emergency and all bars were forced to close, only angering the crowd more. At around 2:30am the streets were clear and most of the students had been driven back to the campus. In all 15 people were arrested, most on the grounds of disorderly conduct.

At this point the leaders of the black groups on campus told black students to make themselves scarce and not involve themselves with the anti war activities. They said that they had their own issues to deal with and did not need to become involved in something that would not benefit them. They also feared for their lives as the police had already abused black students for infractions much minor than this.

After this nights violence Mayor Satrom called Governor Rhodes and requested that the Ohio National Guard be sent to Kent to help keep order. Governor Rhodes obliged and news traveled fast that the Guard would be there.

Saturday May 2

Early in the morning a large group of uniformed ROTC cadets met in front of the campuses ROTC barracks to go and practice at the rifle range. Students saw these cadets and spread rumors that the National Guard was already on campus, in fact the Guardsman would not be arriving until that late that evening. Students became angered that the National Guard was on campus. Later that day when the cadets returned from the range, still uniformed, a protester told them, “You’d better watch your building. It would make a pretty fire.”

Some students from the university went into town that morning and helped local businesses clean up after the nights destruction. This did not help ease the communities fears however, especially after multiple threats received from anti-war protesters promised them more destruction if they did not denounce the government's actions. In response to these fears Mayor Satrom declared a civil emergency that prohibited the sale of alcohol, firearms, and gasoline that was not directly pumped into a vehicle. It also put in place a curfew between the hours of 8pm and 6am. The students were very resentful of this, especially of the curfew since many had plans to hang out at downtown bars that night.

Later in the day the mayor’s office received a call from a school informant who was described as being “a reliable source”. The informant told them that protesters were planning on burning down the schools ROTC building, the army recruiting office, and the towns post office. The mayor’s office took this very seriously and informed both the university and city police.

Nothing more happened until about 8pm that evening. At this time the National Guard was just starting to arrive in town and a crowd was gathering around the Kent ROTC building. Roughly 1000 protesters circled the building and cheered as about a dozen of the most radical protesters set it on fire. Firemen quickly arrived and attempted to put it out but protesters cut their hoses preventing their use. Campus police arrived a few minutes later in riot gear and attempted to disperse the crowd with tear gas but were unsuccessful. Students started to make their way downtown but were met by arriving National Guardsmen who pushed them back to the campus. With more tear gas the Guardsmen eventually dispersed the crowd and most of the students went to their dorms for the night. There were a few attempted fires on campus but most were stopped by school administrators or patrolling police/Guardsmen.

Actual image of the ROTC building the morning after burning, courtesy of ohiomemory.org

It was later discovered during an investigation that the majority of people that actually set fire to the ROTC building were not students of the campus, but it must be stated that they were supported and encouraged by the them.

Sunday May 3

At this time there were 1200 National Guardsmen in the city of Kent and many were focused in and around the campus. Needless to say students were not happy and tensions were growing. Governor Rhodes only made things worse when he traveled to Kent and held a press conference on the situation, often remarking that the students were “unpatriotic”. Rhodes said, “They're the worst type of people that we harbor in America. I think that we're up against the strongest, well-trained, militant, revolutionary group that has ever assembled in America.” This made students absolutely furious. Even though there were radical protest groups influencing actions on campus, many of the students were not part of these groups and did not like being lumped in with them.

Governor Rhodes, courtesy of Howard Ruffner

Later that day a meeting between student leaders and local and state officials was set up to discuss ways to diffuse the situation. Government officials never showed up to the meeting, further fueling the students resentment towards the government.

Later that evening around 8pm a crowd started forming in the university commons area. It was not a protest just college students coming together to talk and visit, some were even kicking a soccer ball around, it was an overall happy and lively crowd. For about a hour the National Guard observed the crowd but did not intervene. The group kept growing until about 1000 students were present and the National Guard started to worry that a riot could break out at any moment. At 9pm the Ohio Riot Act, which defined that a large group of people could be dispersed if there was a danger of injury, was read to the students and they were given five minutes to leave. They did not and the Guardsmen moved in with loaded, bayoneted rifles and fired tear gas into the crowd, the students were broke up quickly and returned to their dorms. Two students were bayoneted in the action and at least one more was struck several times by a baton, but none of the injuries were serious. Three soldiers sustained minor injuries from thrown projectiles. This brief encounter made even some of the most conservative of students resent the National Guard as they saw the entire dispersal unnecessary.

Monday May 4

Classes resumed though many were cancelled due to bomb threats. Those that were not cancelled saw low student attendance and those that did show up only talked about what took place over the weekend. The National Guard by this time was practically running the campus and administrators had no say in what was going on. An actual court ordered state of emergency was never put in place and the Guard was working directly under martial law which the students hated and felt it was nothing but more government overreach.

Beginning of the May 4 encounter, courtesy of Kent State University

Protests were set for noon at the campus. College administrators tried discouraging the protest even going as far as passing out 12,000 pamphlets saying that all demonstrations were banned. Many students said that they did not see the pamphlets or just disregarded them entirely. At noon roughly 3,000 students gathered in the campus commons near the burned down ROTC building to protest the Vietnam War and the National Guard presence on campus, most protesting against the Guard than the war. There were 500 active protesters surrounded by roughly 1000 supporting students and another 1500 students stood a short distance away to observe the gathering.

Jeep going to the Kent State Protesters, Courtesy of Getty Images

Under the command of Brigadier General Robert Canterbury, 100 National Guardsmen donned their gas masks, loaded their M1 rifles and headed towards the mass of protesters. The Guardsmen stayed several yards away from the protesters while Kent State Policeman Harold E. Rice rode in a jeep into the main line of protesters and using a megaphone ordered them to leave. He was met with insults such as “pigs off campus!” and “fascist bastard!”. The jeep was pelted with rocks and it was forced to retreat. Two of the Guardsmen who were driving the jeep were moderately injured by the stones and did receive some medical attention for their injuries.

Photo of a protester throwing back a tear gas canister, courtesy of Getty Images

At this point the National Guard decided to launch tear gas into the crowd. Roughly 20 tier gas canisters, more than enough, were launched at the protesters but due to high winds the gas was ineffective against most. Some even picked up the canisters and threw them back at the Guardsmen, acting like it was a game. Rocks continued to be thrown as well as insults, referring to the Guardsmen as “green pigs”.

The National Guard split into to two groups, one large main group of 77 soldiers and another smaller group of 23. The larger group would push the protesters back away from the commons and up Blanket Hill directly behind the commons area. The smaller group would flank left and cut off the entrance points between buildings to keep students from going around the main column. The Guardsmen began their march and the protesters were pushed back with relative ease. The smaller column cleared the left flank quickly and stood at the gap between Prentice Hall and Taylor Hall, denying access to the commons from that direction. The larger group crested the hill and saw protesters gathering at a football training field. It was decided that the field would be cleared of protesters and the Guardsmen marched down towards it. While clearing the field several soldiers were seen crouching and aiming their rifles at the protesters as a scare tactic. Also while at the field eyewitnesses from both sides said that they saw an officer fire his pistol above the head of a protester in order to scare him. It took 10 minutes to clear the field and before marching back towards the main line of protesters a group of Guardsmen were seen huddled together in a group talking, some believe this is when they decided to shoot at the protesters though there is no evidence to back this up. About 100 yards away was a parking lot where some of the more radical protesters were throwing rocks at the National Guard but most fell short. The Guardsmen marched back up the hill and were followed by between 20-50 of the most daring protesters who continued yelling insults and hurling objects at the them. More protesters started to join them and were seen running towards the line of guardsmen, for some it would be the last thing they would ever do.

Soldiers aiming at Kent State protesters, courtesy of The Library of Congress

It started with one man firing his rifle into the crowd of protesters and more following. 28 soldiers began shooting, most fired in the air or towards the ground, but a few shot directly into the crowd. General Canterbury and other officers started yelling “Cease fire!” immediately after the shooting started but some soldiers had to be knocked on the head to make them quit. The shooting lasted for 13 seconds and the soldiers fired between 61 and 67 shots. The crowd dispersed immediately but many stayed to try and render aid to those injured. Gen. Canterbury took a small group of men to help give first aid to the injured and sent the rest of his troops back over the hill to where they started. As the Guardsmen gave aid to those injured and carried the most serious to an ambulance an irate crowd formed around them, after ensuring that the medics had everything covered they hastily returned to the rest of the troop.

Wounded Kent State student taken to an ambulance, courtesy of Getty Images

In the wake of the shooting four people were killed and nine were wounded. Most wounded were not serious and were just hit by ricochet bullets. The worst of all was that two of those killed were not protesters but bystanders who were just watching the events unfold.

After the shooting the soldiers were interviewed and those that shot said they only did so after they heard the initial shot, and many said they thought they heard a shot coming from the protesters and believed they were under attack. Only four soldiers admitted to deliberately shooting at the crowd and all said that they believed they were under attack by the protesters. One thing is clear, there was no order given to fire. Many of the soldiers, even to this day, maintain that they feared for their lives when they shot.

Aftermath

People across the United States were angered by the shooting at Kent State and there were protests at many college campuses. The shooting changed people's perceptions of anti-war protesters, from one of the hippie bum that many hated to one of intelligent middle class people who genuinely hated the war. Many colleges closed for the rest of the academic year in order to discourage protests and curb the spread of violence. Kent State closed the day of the shooting and the campus did not reopen for another six weeks when the spring semester began.

The Kent State shooting is still remembered by the school today and on the anniversary of it many students still take time to reflect and look back on the event that claimed the lives of those who attended before them.

A Perfect Storm

The events at Kent State would not have unfolded like they did if it were not for the time and not for specific events that lead up to it. As for the students actions, Kent was being targeted by protest groups for a couple years before most of the country was against the war and even though most students remained conservative or neutral the groups did gain a fair amount of members and supporters. President Nixon announced the Invasion of Cambodia, which was the tipping point for many students, right before a weekend. This left the news fresh in students minds and gave them the time off from school they needed to direct their energy. Also the truth of the Gulf of Tonkin incident, which lead America into the war, was coming to light and the government lying about it further spurned protesters.

Closing the city on Friday night made a lot of students who just wanted to have a good time angry. The National Guard being called in and controlling the campus made even the most conservative students resentful, and Governor Rhodes’ comments infuriated many moderate students. People who were not students, especially criminals, influenced them to commit arson. The final straw for many was the National Guard breaking up peaceful gatherings on campus, such as the one on May third, believing that the Guard was overstepping its bounds. Plus the radical students who were heated at the start were now feeling superior and more bold due to the support of the rest of the student population.

Now what about the National Guard? What caused them to act out? Well first off these were Guardsmen experienced in riot control, most of them had already been involved in suppressing riots in the past couple of years. Many on multiple occasions, but even the most experienced can make mistakes. For one they had already been dealing with construction worker riots when they were redirected to Kent. Many were already stressed and worn out from performing riot duty for the past few weeks. Once they arrived it was evening and before they could set up camp anywhere they were called to the university to handle the students. Then the rest of the night they had to patrol the town and campus. Sunday they again were patrolling the town and had extra duty since the Governor was there for a press conference. That evening they had to go back to the university to disperse students and had to again patrol for the rest of the night. Also remember that during this whole time they are being pelted with rocks, bricks, bottles, and whatever else students could find to throw at them. Plus many of these soldiers had not had any real food in several days. Monday morning when some soldiers were going to sleep and some were preparing to have their first hot meal in days they were called to the protest in the commons. At that time most soldiers had only has about three hours of sleep in 48 hours. This is purely speculation but I’m sure many of the Guardsmen felt hurt by the students actions, not physically but mentally. They were called insults the whole time they were there, they more than likely felt that the people who supported them had now turned their back on them since Kent was one of the more conservative colleges, and now they had to “fight” against them. Most were the same age as the protesters and I’m sure that weighed on them to some extent. So hungry, tired, stressed, demoralized, and badly bruised they faced the crowd on May fourth. Both sides antagonizing each other until something gave. That something turned out to be the 67 shots fired and the four students that lay dead when it was all over.

Immediately after the shooting many of the Guardsmen had tears in their eyes and many said they felt like they were forced to do what they did. One Guardsman that admitted to shooting into the crowd said that he was, “tired, angry, and disgusted”, doubtless many of his fellow soldiers felt the same way.

One of the Kent State Shooting victims, courtesy of John Filo

Kent State was a perfect storm of events that culminated into what would be one of the saddest moments of the Vietnam period.

The Victims

William Schroeder- an ROTC cadet who was not involved in the protest but was just a bystander.

Sandra Scheuer- she was walking to class when the guard opened fire, she was not part of the protest.

Jeffrey Miller- was involved in the protest and was seen running towards the guard when shot

Allison Krause- was actively involved in the protest

Personal Thoughts

I do not feel as though I can blame one side over the other for what happened. The shooting was a tragic thing that took place and the events that lead up to interest me greatly. As I said before I felt that this needed to be made because there is too much misinformation out there surrounding the shooting. People are too quick to take sides without seeing the whole picture and in this case the whole picture needs to be seen to understand why what happened did.

Contact Me

E-mail- forgottenwars77@gmail.com

Instagram- forgottenhistory77

Sources:

http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Kent_State_Shootings

https://www.britannica.com/event/Kent-State-shootings

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED083899.pdf

https://www.kent.edu/may-4-historical-accuracy

https://allthatsinteresting.com/kent-state-massacre#4

May 10 The Kent State Shooting