Kent State Massacre Summary

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May 4 was initially a peaceful protest including students and anti-war activists speaking out against the Vietnam war. Not only were they speaking out against the war, but the presence of the National Guard on campus. May 4 was the biggest protest of the Anti-war movement. The protest was scheduled to start 11:00 AM and an estimated 3,000 protesters were there that morning. General Canterbury of the Ohio National Guard ordered his men to “lock and load” there weapons at the start of the protest. The National Guard additionally ordered the protesters to break up but instead of doing so they began throwing rocks and shouting at the guards (“Kent State Shooting”). Some of the protesters threw canisters with rocks in them at the soldiers. Some …show more content…
As they reached the top of blanket hill, protesters continued to throw things at the soldiers. Witnesses say 29 of them opened fire into the crowd of protesters (“Kent State Shooting”). The gunfire lasted thirteen seconds but some say they felt like it was over a minute. The troops fired a total of 67 shots and when the firing ended, nine students lay injured, and four killed. Two of the students who lost their lives hadn’t even participated in the protests (“Kent State Shootings”). Jeffrey Miller, Allison Krause, William Schroeder, and Sandra Schuer were victims of the shooting. Photographer John Filo captured the picture of fourteen-year old Mary Vecchio crying over Miller’s dead body, the same day of the shooting (“Kent State Shooting”). After the incident, the Kent State Shootings became the focal point of a nation deeply divided by war. That same day Governor Rhodes said, “they’re the worst type of people that we harbor in America. I think we’re up against the strongest, well trained, militant, revolutionary group that has ever assembled in America” (“Kent State Shootings”). The state of Ohio knew they weren’t going to have an easy time escaping what had happened on May
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