Kent State

[[File:Mary Ann Vecchio Kent State May 4 1970 John Filo Photograph.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Mary Ann Vecchio kneeling over the body of student Jeffrey Miller]]
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[[File:Map of Shootings at Kent State University in 1970.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Map of shootings at Kent State University]]
'''Kent State''' is the nickname for Kent State University, a division of the University System of Ohio located in Kent, [[Ohio]]. But that's not why it's famous.

==Prelude==
On May 1, 1970, at closing time on a Saturday night, hundreds of Kent State students poured out of bars and began harassing motorists and committing vandalism, including spray painting ant-war slogans.<ref name=vandemark>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/04/26/kent-state-killings-lesson-protests/ The grim history of using troops against student protesters] by Brian VanDeMark (April 26, 2024 at 6:02 p.m. EDT) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> The mayor of Kent, LeRoy Satrom {{lived|1919|2004}} who was a conservative [[Democrat]], had just gotten elected on a platform of getting tough on "[[Hippies|long-haired students]]".<ref name=vandemark/> Satrom's response to this was to call Ohio Governor Jim Rhodes {{lived|1909|2001}}, a [[Republican]], and ask that he mobilize the National Guard at Kent State.<ref name=vandemark/> Rhodes met with state and local university officials on May 3, but — in large part because he desired to win a Senate seat in the next election, and wanted to show that he would use "all the force that was necessary" against campus unrest in Ohio — he ignored their advice.<ref name=vandemark/> When someone asked Rhodes to define a protest, he replied: 'Two students walking together.'"<ref name=vandemark/><ref>''Kent State: An American Tragedy'' by Brian VanDeMark (August 13, 2024) W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 1324066253.</ref> [[Journalist]]s had learned of this meeting and entered the room uninvited, at which point:
{{cquote|Rhodes grew theatrical. Pounding his fists on the conference table, he declared in an angry voice, "We're going to put a stop to this!" and "we are going to eradicate the problem!" and "[[Demonization|they're the worst type of people that we harbor in America]]!" The table-thumping performance only added fuel to the blaze of confrontation.}}

==Shooting==
On a lovely spring day in the early seventies, May 4, 1970, to be exact, protesters against the [[Richard Nixon|Nixon administration]]'s expansion of the [[Vietnam War]] into neighboring [[Cambodia]] were confronted by members of the Ohio National Guard. A guardsman later stated, "We had no understanding as to the amount of force we were supposed to use to accomplish that mission. There had not been a briefing before we moved out to explain what to do and how to do it."<ref name=vandemark/> Since the Guard had guns and the students only had rocks and words, tragedy ensued. Four young people — Jeffrey Miller, Allison Krause, William Schroeder, and Sandra Scheuer — were killed that day. Two were protesters, and two were simply walking from one class to another.<ref>[http://speccoll.library.kent.edu/4may70/MissionBetrayed.htm#_ftnref316 MISSION BETRAYED: Richard Nixon and the Scranton Commission Inquiry into Kent State], An e-book by Charles A. Thomas (partial work), Charles A. Thomas Papers, Kent State University May 4 Collection.</ref> One of the [[Extrajudicial punishment|murdered]] students (Schroeder) was actually a ROTC (Reserve Officers' Training Corps) member; he was the only one of the four for whom Richard Nixon bothered to personally call the parents.

==Aftermath==
The state of Ohio then had the chutzpah to press charges — not against the Ohio National Guardsmen, but against 25 other students involved in the protests, known as the Kent 25. Most of the charges were eventually dropped.<ref>http://www.burr.kent.edu/archives/may4/twentyfive/twentyfive1.html</ref><ref>http://dept.kent.edu/sociology/lewis/lewihen.htm</ref>

In yet another example of the [[Silent Majority]] keeping it classy, bumper stickers reading "Army 4, Kent State 0" appeared; union construction workers in [[New York City]], mobilized by the local AFL-CIO leadership to hold a pro-Vietnam War rally, rioted and attacked antiwar protesters who had gathered to remember the Kent State dead,<ref>http://www.spectacle.org/595/kent.html</ref> and Nixon and his White House general counsel, [[Chuck Colson]], then invited the leaders of the construction worker riot for a warm welcome and a "well done" at the White House. Nixon appointed the local Construction Trades union leader and instigator of the riot, Peter Brennan, as Secretary of Labor during his second term.

==Devo==
Two of the members of the band [[Devo]] (Mark Mothersbaugh and Jerry Casale) were students at Kent State at the time of the murders, and a third (Bob Mothersbaugh) was on campus at the time.<ref name=thomas>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150507075146/http://nightflight.com/devos-mark-mothersbaugh-and-jerry-casale-remember-the-kent-state-massacre/ Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh and Jerry Casale remember the Kent State Massacre] by Bryan Thomas (May 4, 2017) ''Nightflight'' (archived from May 7, 2015).</ref> The three were witnesses or participants to the preceding student unrest, and witnesses to the murders.<ref name=thomas/> The murders were profoundly influential on the three members, and led to their formation of Devo, as well as to their using the term [[devolution]] as a reference to how they saw humanity going.<ref>[https://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/mark-mothersbaugh-explains-how-tragedy-inspired-devo-in-animated-clip-20150306 Mark Mothersbaugh Explains How Tragedy Inspired Devo in Animated Clip: Kent State shootings helped usher in the age of "Devolution," artist says] by Daniel Kreps (March 6, 2015) ''Rolling Stone''.</ref> According to Casale, the Kent State murders were also one of the instigators of [[punk]] rock.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/how-the-kent-state-massacre-changed-music/2018/05/03/b45ca462-4cb6-11e8-b725-92c89fe3ca4c_story.html How the Kent State massacre helped give birth to punk rock] by Tim Sommer (May 3, 2018) ''The Washington Post''.</ref>

==See also==
*[[Extrajudicial punishment]]
*[[Kaitlin Bennett]], alum

==External links==
*{{wpa|Kent State Shootings}}
*[http://www.thrasherswheat.org/fot/ohio.htm An analysis of the Neil Young song "Ohio"]

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Government incompetence]]
[[Category:New Left]]
[[Category:Ohio]]
[[Category:United States history]]

Categories: Government incompetence, New Left, Ohio, United States history