kent state shooting

i'm doing a huge project (speech, model monument, and paper) on kent state. the purpose of the project is to design a monument to someone/something i feel passionate about in history. i chose kent state because it is a horrible, yet beautiful example of useless killing, protest, and our rights. i just needed some ideas on a title for it, and what the purpose of the monument ( not just rememberence for the 4 killed) would be. so if anyone can briefly tell me what in your opinion this event means to you. thanx for you help

 

This may be of no benefit for your purposes but it may serve as a reminder/new info to Others.

http://www.thrasherswheat.org/fot/ohio.htm

Godspeed,
A

 

In that particular case, four students made an incredibly stupid and dangerous move which resulted in their deaths.
Police were preparing for a possible riot.

Four Students (or at least several in the group of four) moved away from the main group, positioned themselves to the side and began throwing rocks at the poice officers.

Since rocks sound and feel very very similar to bullets (to an officer in gear) - the police DO NOT GIVE THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT and quickly responded with fire.

Since then police have worked on ways to better identify the difference between bullets Vs rocks hitting them.
Even still - if you throw rocks at police helmets and shields today, there is still a very good chance they will shoot you till you are dead.

Same goes for spinning around and pulling out a cell phone and pointing it at police.

The reason they will kill you is because many times it IS BULLETS or IS a small handgun.

Its pretty sad those four students put the cops in that position.
They obviously did not think through what they were doing when they chose to hit cops in the head with rocks

Link Update: http://dept.kent.edu/sociology/lewis/lewihen.htm

 

Interesting.
Your Post is based on the link?

"The Guard then began retracing their steps from the practice football field back up Blanket Hill. As they arrived at the top of the hill, twenty-eight of the more than seventy Guardsmen turned suddenly and fired their rifles and pistols. Many guardsmen fired into the air or the ground. However, a small portion fired directly into the crowd. Altogether between 61 and 67 shots were fired in a 13 second period."
Would you please provide proof the four dead were even indirectly involved (as spectators) much less the way you've described their actions?

Why did only a small portion of the 'cornered' Gaurdsmen fire directly into the crowd?
Were they actually in Fear of Bodily Harm?
Poorly trained w/no business conducting crowd control?
A sinister reason?



"Four Kent State students died as a result of the firing by the Guard. The closest student was Jeffrey Miller, who was shot in the mouth while standing in an access road leading into the Prentice Hall parking lot, a distance of approximately 270 feet from the Guard. Allison Krause was in the Prentice Hall parking lot; she was 330 feet from the Guardsmen and was shot in the left side of her body. William Schroeder was 390 feet from the Guard in the Prentice Hall parking lot when he was shot in the left side of his back. Sandra Scheuer was also about 390 feet from the Guard in the Prentice Hall parking lot when a bullet pierced the left front side of her neck."
Don't the distances seem unusually long for effective rock throwing?
Many pro baseball players don't have that good of an arm.


Kent State didn't pass the smell test in 1970 and still doesn't Today...


REFERENCE
http://dept.kent.edu/sociology/lewis/lewihen.htm

 

The national guard fired, not the police.

Two of the people killed were not involved in the protest. They were students going to and from class. It's not known if the other two who were killed were throwing anything.

Some of the protestors where throwing pieces of gravel at the guard from the Prentice Hall parking lot.

If the guard had thought they were being fired upon due to gravel, they would have already returned fire when they were in close proximity to the protestors. They were hundreds of feet away from the protestors in the parking lot and on top of the hill when they turned and fired.

 

Well your free to disagree with the Courts and all the following appeals and final rulings.

The facts remain that the police were being cornered and pelted with rocks (and tear gas cannisters thrown back.

They fired a burst of gunfire in the direction of the students and 4 of them were standing in the wrong place.

Whats always interesting is to put yourself in the shoes of the Cops.
IF a mob backed you into your house and was tossing tear-gas, screaming at your window and suddenly someone you couldnt see threw handfuls of gravel at your window..... its very likely you would, at least be slightly terrified they were 'shooting' at you.

Cops are better trained now.
They would NEVER let themselves get surrounded into a corner anymore.
They would start shooting you dead BEFORE it got that far as it did at KEnt.

 

The guard didn't shoot when they were in a situation when they were the most surrounded. They were never really surrounded by protestors. They put themselves in a position where they were up against a fence, but that's not where they shot from. They shot from up on the hill when they were hundreds of feet away from the protestors.

I'm not saying some of the guard weren't frightened. Some of them were. It's just hard to explain why they chose that moment to fire.

You should check out some of the disciplined ways the Japanese police handle protestors. I watched a documentary about it and the youngsters there make Kent State look like a baby play, yet the police don't kill anyone. They are simply well-trained.

 

It's also worth noting that it wasn't a case of the guard shooting because they were outnumbered. There was actually a much larger crowd of students standing almost right next to the guardsmen along the edge of Taylor Hall. The guard didn't shoot at them but were aiming mainly at people in the parking lot.

 

If you look at a map of where the protestors were, Alan Canfora, the one who would wave the flag, was one of the closest to the guard. The much of the fire went right past the vicinity of him. He was shot through the wrist.

Canfora has always thought that the guard was shooting at him intentionally and many of the bullets that went past him hit people in the parking lot. Canfora said that the day before the shooting, he was approached by a couple of guard members who said that they were going to make him eat that flag the next day.

It would almost impossible to prove in a court of law that the guard conspired to shoot at the protestors unless a guard member came right out and admitted it.

 

To the original poster, read about the Kent State incident as much as you can. There are plenty of links on the web. The people involved in that incident tend to get bombarded with email in March and April, especially this year since it is the 35th anniversary. So, you might have trouble reaching some of them.


Here are some photos I took when I attended the 34th memorial last May 4th.

The memorial for William Schroeder in the Prentice Hall parking lot.



The plaque on the top of the hill in the woods honoring the killed and injured.

 

Three of the four granite monoliths in the woods representing the four who were killed.



The gathering in the Prentice Hall parking lot just before the peace walk around the campus and Kent community.

 

as some one said earlier...they are national guard, not cops...
and the guard were the ones to throw the tear gas in in the first place, so why shouldnt the students throw them back?i personally feel it was totally ridiculous to have the guard brought on campus in the first place. as american's we hold the right to protest. what were the guards protecting in the first place? the students arent gonna attack themselves, it was a protest for peace. and the point is, no one was in real danger besides the kids with guns being pointed at them, including bi-standers
<3

 

nvm

 

May 4th Task Force:

http://dept.kent.edu/may4/

Alan Canfora's page:

http://www.alancanfora.com/

.

 

Map summarizing where people were shot:

 

read history a bit better this were not COP and i have no simphathy for them either .

 

and even if they were cops by the way you guys want dig dirt kent state is crap compare with Ruby Ridge and Waco texas.

 

Please stop annoying me with this silly correction about 'Cops' Vs 'National Guard'.

Not everyone is going to be familiar with the specific allocations of Policing in the USA over 30 years ago.

They were not technically 'Pigs' either but that didnt stop protestors from calling them that.
No one is confused about what the word 'Cops' means or how Policing agencies are designated.

Some of you are pretending to ask 'telling questions' about who was shot, who was maimed and who was missed.

The fact that 70 bullets were fired and there was no particular 'Pattern' to who was hit, wounded or missed is the very evidence supporting the Defense of the Cops (oh sorrrry .. National Guardsmen!)

Ruby Ridge was an example of absolute pro-active premedidated murder of a Protester and Waco is a good example of deliberate intent to carry out revenge killings by the Cops.
Kent is a good example of incredibly aggressive and stupid, violent protestors all but forcing the police to pull the triggers.

Im NOT happy the three Jewish kids (and the ROTC kid) were shot dead - but- Im just saying that IS what happens when you corner cops and throw rocks at them.

 

here we go again they are not cops . dont tell me about cops becouse i m old enough to live thru those times . national guards and cops are like muslims vs jews . national guards do what they are told by a higher authority Cops do as they please. what the national guard did was fuck up but it got nothing to do with =The do what ever hell you want to do COPS. Those national guard are also a product of the 1950s military mentality . so they acted like a bunch of assholes . Cops are difrent they want to act like a bunch of racist assholes .they were LIKE THAT in the late 60s and 70s even TODAY. HOW MUCH ROCKS CAN YOU FIND IN A CLEAN , GRASS CUT, U.S UNIVERSITY LIKE KENT .

 

I understand now.

Cops = The 'Jews' of Policing who are the 'do-whatever-the-hell-you-want-to-do Racist Assholes.

National Guardsmen = The 'Muslims' of Policing who are the bunch of assholes who answer to a higher authority and fucked up because of their 50's military mentality.

This goes a long way in finally explaining why both protestors, witnesses and the Asshole Guardsmen reported rocks being thrown at them.
Also the ROCKS explained it too.
The ones you can find and throw at National Guardsmen at Kent.