Kent State Research
Sgt. Michael Delaney of the guard public relations staff said after the shootings that, "At the approximate time of the firing on the campus, the Ohio Highway Patrol—via a helicopter—spotted a sniper on a nearby building." Today, a patrol official, Maj. D. E. Manly, said, "There is nothing on the log on the sighting." Manly said if patrolmen in the helicopter circling the campus had seen a gunman it would have been recorded.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ap-national-guard-kills-students-kent-state-70479408
2006: Alan Canfora first opened the boxes of Yale material in 2006, analyzed the digital Strubbe recording first and foremost and immediately discovered clearly shouted evidence of military commands to "fire!" immediately preceding the 12.53 seconds of deadly Ohio National Guard gunfire. Canfora discovered the missing evidence, long-suppressed or long-overlooked, which proved the cause of the Kent State tragedy. Stunned yet thrilled, Canfora alerted only a few people about his discovery of this most significant Kent State tragedy-related evidence since 1970. Before he announced his great discovery, Canfora decided to gather a massive amount of supporting evidence proving the command to "Fire!". Eyewitness statements from 1970 by guardsmen, KSU students and others were assembled in preparation for Canfora's announcement of the discovery of proof of the order to "Fire!"
https://alancanfora.com/canfora-finds-proof/
April 23, 2012: Assistant US Attorney General Thomas Perez responded by letter to Alan Canfora. He said a new FBI analysis of the Strubbe recording was "inconclusive" and no further action would be taken by the US Justice Departmernt. Promptly, in late April of 2012, after the US Justice Department's fumbled "investigation", the editorial boards of the Cleveland Plain Dealer and Akron Beacon Journal newspapers again call for a new investigation of the Strubbe recording evidence. More viral news coverage worldwide reporting the negative action by the US Justice Department spreads outrage everywhere.
https://alancanfora.com/canfora-finds-proof/
In 2007, Alan Canfora announced his discovery of the most significant Kent State 1970 evidence ever discovered: digital audio recorded evidence proving the Ohio National Guard COMMAND TO FIRE! Timeline of key events regarding the May 4, 1970, audio recording made by KSU freshman student Terry Strubbe — and the Alan Canfora discovery and announcement of this most important evidence ever revealed in the Kent State murder mystery.
https://alancanfora.com/canfora-finds-proof/
May 1, 2007: Alan Canfora news conference at KSU in the Student Center Kiva auditorium. Canfora announced to numerous news media his discovery of proof of the 1970 order to fire — a national & international news event. Canfora provided copies of his evidence to over 50 media representatives including digital CD copies of the Strubbe recorded evidence and printed supporting evidence of the order to fire. News is relayed worldwide immediately via viral television, radio, online and newspaper reports. New York Times, CNN, FoxNews, MSNBC, NPR and many media outlets spread the word worldwide.
https://alancanfora.com/canfora-finds-proof/
November 2, 2010: Alan Canfora & Kent May 4 Center attorneys met Assistant US Attorney General Thomas E. Perez at the office of US Attorney Steven Dettelbach in Cleveland and requested a new Justice Department investigation of forensic digital evidence in Strubbe recording.
https://alancanfora.com/canfora-finds-proof/
In an interview a few days after the tragedy, one guardsmen (who insisted on anonymity) told a reporter that the National Guard troops did not feel their lives were in danger. "(I) just closed my eyes and shot. . .shoulder-level toward the crowd," the guardsman said. "It was an automatic thing. Everybody shot, so I shot. I didn't think about it. I just fired." Unfortunately, that is about all the public knows about the Guard's thoughts during the 13 seconds of gunfire that killed four students and wounded nine others.
https://dks.library.kent.edu/cgi-bin/kentstate?a=d&d=dks19950504-01.2.63
Three of the six guardsmen who admitted firing into the crowd still live in Ravenna; Pfc. James McGee, Sgt. Lawrence Shafer and Spc. Ralph Zoller all declined to be interviewed by the Daily Kent Stater. Sgt. Barry Morris, Spc. James Pierce and Spc. William Perkins could not be reached. The only recorded thoughts of these men are contained in FBI reports collected a few months after the shootings. Even in the court trials that followed, the guardsmen remained tight-lipped. Most pleaded the Fifth Amendment to avoid potential self-incrimination.
https://dks.library.kent.edu/cgi-bin/kentstate?a=d&d=dks19950504-01.2.63
The group known as the "Kent 25" was hit with another blow after the May 4 shootings. They were indicted five months later on charges connected with the demonstration that day or the ROTC building fire three days before. Some claim they were merely caught by mistake because they happened to show up in photographs. Others say their actions were deliberate. They include a student body president, a professor, a brother and sister, and good friends and roommates who had protested together. On the eve of the 30th anniversary, 15 of the 25 and a defense attorney agreed to be interviewed for this story.
https://web.archive.org/web/20020918131557/http://www.burr.kent.edu/archives/may4/twentyfive/twentyfive1.html
After the U.S. Justice Department reopened (August 1973) the investigation of the Guard's role in the shooting, eight former Guardsmen were charged with violating the civil rights of the students. In November 1974 the eight were acquitted by U.S. District Court Judge Frank J. Battisti, who ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove that the Guardsmen had willfully intended to deprive the four students killed and nine wounded of their civil rights.
https://www.britannica.com/event/Kent-State-shootings/How-can-you-run-when-you-know-the-national-response
In June 1970 Nixon created the President's Commission on Campus Unrest (better know as the Scranton Commission) to examine the shootings at Kent State and Jackson State as well as campus violence in general. The commission's report, published in September, concluded that the Guardsmen's "indiscriminate firing" was "unnecessary, unwarranted and inexcusable" but that "violent and criminal" actions by the demonstrators contributed to the tragedy. The report also adamantly cautioned against the future use of loaded rifles in confronting student demonstrators.
https://www.britannica.com/event/Kent-State-shootings/How-can-you-run-when-you-know-the-national-response
A settlement was reached in 1979 in which the Ohio National Guard agreed to pay those injured in the events of May 4, 1970 a total of $675,000.
https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/kent-state-shooting
American involvement in the civil war in Vietnam had been controversial from its beginnings, and a significant segment of the general public in the United States was against the presence of U.S. armed forces in the region.
https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/kent-state-shooting
At Kent State, these protests actually began on May 1, the day after the invasion. Hundreds of students gathered in the Student Commons.
https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/kent-state-shooting
By the time they arrived at the Kent State campus on the night of May 2nd, however, protesters had already set fire to the school's ROTC building, and scores were watching and cheering as it burned. Many arrests were made throughout the night.
https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/kent-state-shooting
Following the shooting, the university was immediately ordered closed, and the campus remained shut down for some six weeks following the shootings.
https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/kent-state-shooting
Four Kent State University students were killed and nine were injured on May 4, 1970, when members of the Ohio National Guard opened fire on a crowd gathered to protest the Vietnam War.
https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/kent-state-shooting
General Canterbury ordered his men to lock and load their weapons, and to fire tear gas into the crowd. They would usher and move the crowds to a different area, the practice football field.
https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/kent-state-shooting
However, on April 30, 1970, President Nixon authorized U.S. troops to invade Cambodia, a neutral nation located west of Vietnam.
https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/kent-state-shooting
In fact, President Richard M. Nixon had been elected in 1968 due in large part to his promise to end the Vietnam War.
https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/kent-state-shooting
Interestingly, the next day, Sunday, May 3rd, was a fairly calm day on campus. No real conflict.
https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/kent-state-shooting
Nobody knows exactly who started nor organized the protests of May 4th, But the protest, during which activists spoke out against the presence of the National Guard on campus as well as the Vietnam War, was initially peaceful.
https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/kent-state-shooting
Numerous investigatory commissions and court trials followed, during which members of the Ohio National Guard testified that they felt the need to discharge their weapons because they feared for their lives.
https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/kent-state-shooting
Over just a 13-second period, nearly 70 shots were fired in total. In all, four Kent State students—Jeffrey Miller, Allison Krause, William Schroeder, and Sandra Scheuer—were killed, and nine others were injured.
https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/kent-state-shooting
Protests across the country in the latter half of the 1960s were part of organized opposition against U.S. military activities in Southeast Asia, as well as the military draft.
https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/kent-state-shooting
Rogers and Laird, along with the rest of the American public, found out about the invasion when President Nixon addressed the nation on television two days later. It was the public reaction to the decision that ultimately led to the events at Kent State University, a public university in northeast Ohio.
https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/kent-state-shooting
That night, in downtown Kent, there were reports of violent clashes between students and local police. Police alleged that their cars were hit with bottles, and that students stopped traffic and lit bonfires in the streets.
https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/kent-state-shooting
The Guardsmen retreated back up the hill, away from the field, and roughly 28 men turned around shooting their M-1 rifles into the air, and crowd.
https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/kent-state-shooting
The field was enclosed in fencing so the National Guard was amongst the protestors and were getting seriously targeted.
https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/kent-state-shooting
The following day, Saturday, May 2, there were rumors that radicals were making threats against the town of Kent and the university. Ohio National Guard was called in to calm the protests.
https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/kent-state-shooting
The president made his decision without notifying his Secretary of State William Rogers or Defense Secretary Melvin Laird.
https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/kent-state-shooting
Up until April 1970, it appeared he was on the way to fulfilling that campaign promise, as military operations were seemingly winding down.
https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/kent-state-shooting
With a major protest already scheduled for noon on Monday, May 4th, once again on the Commons, university officials attempted to diffuse the situation by prohibiting the event. Still, crowds began to gather at about 11:00 that morning, and an estimated 3,000 protesters and spectators were there by the scheduled start time. Stationed at the now-destroyed ROTC building were roughly 100 Ohio National Guardsmen carrying M-1 military rifles.
https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/kent-state-shooting
(1) Who was responsible for the violence in downtown Kent and on the Kent State campus in the three days prior to May 4? As an important part of this question, were "outside agitators" primarily responsible? Who was responsible for setting fire to the ROTC building? (2) Should the Guard have been called to Kent and Kent State University? Could local law enforcement personnel have handled any situations? Were the Guard properly trained for this type of assignment? (3) Did the Kent State University administration respond appropriately in their reactions to the demonstrations and with Ohio political officials and Guard officials? (4) Would the shootings have been avoided if the rally had not been banned? Did the banning of the rally violate First Amendment rights?
https://www.kent.edu/may-4-historical-accuracy
The answer offered by the Guardsmen is that they fired because they were in fear of their lives. Guardsmen testified before numerous investigating commissions as well as in federal court that they felt the demonstrators were advancing on them in such a way as to pose a serious and immediate threat to the safety of the Guardsmen, and they therefore had to fire in self-defense.
https://www.kent.edu/may-4-historical-accuracy
The most important question associated with the events of May 4 is why did members of the Guard fire into a crowd of unarmed students? Two quite different answers have been advanced to this question: (1) the Guardsmen fired in self-defense, and the shootings were therefore justified and (2) the Guardsmen were not in immediate danger, and therefore the shootings were unjustified.
https://www.kent.edu/may-4-historical-accuracy
Krause v. Rhodes is the 1975 federal civil trial for Allison, Sandy, Jeff, Bill, and the nine wounded students. The case was found in favor of the defendants (Rhodes, the national guardsmen, etc.) and appealed. In 1979 the case was settled out of court for $675,000 and a signed statement.
https://www.library.kent.edu/special-collections-and-archives/may-4-glossary
The Kent 25 refers to the 25 students and faculty indicted by a grand jury on criminal charges for a total of 43 crimes in conjunction with the events of early May, 1970. Of the 25, one was convicted for interfering with a fireman, two pleaded guilty, one was acquitted, and the others had their charges dismissed for lack of evidence.
https://www.library.kent.edu/special-collections-and-archives/may-4-glossary
A grand jury indicted five guardsmen on felony charges -- Lawrence Shafer, 28, and James McGee, 28, both of Ravenna, Ohio; James Pierce, 30, of Amelia Island, Florida.; William Perkins, 38 of Canton, Ohio; and Ralph Zoller, 27, of Mantua, Ohio. Barry Morris, 30, of Kent, Ohio; Leon Smith, 27, of Beach City, Ohio; and Matthew McManus, 28, of West Salem, Ohio, were indicted on misdemeanor charges. The guardsmen claimed to have fired in self-defense, testimony that was generally accepted by the criminal justice system.
https://www.nytimes.com/1974/11/09/archives/judge-acquits-guardsmen-in-slayings-at-kent-state-judge-acquits.html
"In retrospect, the tragedy of May 4, 1970, should not have occurred," the statement read. "Hindsight suggests that another method would have resolved the confrontation. We devoutly wish that means had been found to avoid the May events. We deeply regret those events."
https://www.nytimes.com/1979/01/05/archives/ohio-approves-675000-to-settle-suits-in-1970-kent-state-shootings.html
"It [the settlement] doesn't matter to me one way or another," said the mother of one of the slain students who declined to be identified. "Do you think I'm going to touch that blood money? Would that pay for my child's life? I'm going to give it away if I get it."
https://www.nytimes.com/1979/01/05/archives/ohio-approves-675000-to-settle-suits-in-1970-kent-state-shootings.html
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Jan. 4 (UPI) Here is an itemized account of the settlement in the Kent State civil liability case, with $600,000 'going to the plaintiffs, $50,000 for attorney fees and $25,000 for out‐of‐pocket expenses: Dean Kahler, wounded student, $350,600; Joseph Lewi, wounded student, $42,500; Tom Grace, wounded student, $37,500; Donald S. MacKenzie, wounded student, $27,500; John Cleary, wounded student, $22,500. The following plaintiffs were awarded $15,000 each: Arthur Krause, administrator of the estate of Allison Krause, deceased; Sarah Scheuer, administratrix of the estate of Sandra Lee Scheuer, deceased; Elaine Miller Holstein, administratrix of the estate of Jeffrey Glenn Miller, deceased; and Louis A. Schroeder, administrator of the estate of William K. Schroeder, deceased. These wounded students also will receive $15,000 apiece: Alan Canfora, James D. Russell, Robert F. Stamps and Douglas Wrentmore.
https://www.nytimes.com/1979/01/05/archives/ohio-approves-675000-to-settle-suits-in-1970-kent-state-shootings.html
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Jan. 4 — Ohio's State Controlling Board today approved an out‐of‐court settlement that would pay $675,000 to the victims and families of victims in the Kent State University shootings of May 4, 1970.
https://www.nytimes.com/1979/01/05/archives/ohio-approves-675000-to-settle-suits-in-1970-kent-state-shootings.html
"Basically for five years, from 1970 to 1975, the university had had a commemoration every year," he says. "And then in 1975, they said, 'Enough is enough. We're done memorializing. We're done commemorating.'"
http://www.kentwired.com/article_a45d3c9c-88ce-11ea-b97c-9f86dc86bd32.html
"We all came out of there unified as a powerful new organization called the May 4 Coalition," Canfora says. "And we had listed eight demands. And we really started to bond, personally and politically." These demands included: never altering the site of the shootings, not punishing anyone for the demonstration in Rockwell Hall or missing classes on May 4, naming buildings for the four students killed, canceling normal university activities every May 4, acknowledging the shootings as an injustice, maintaining university status for the Center for Peaceful Change and reopening negotiations with the United Faculty Professional Association.
http://www.kentwired.com/article_a45d3c9c-88ce-11ea-b97c-9f86dc86bd32.html
In the years that immediately followed the May 4 shootings, Kent State sought to distance itself from the tragedies that happened on its campus. Enrollment dropped 13% in the four years after May 4, according to Cleveland.com.
http://www.kentwired.com/article_a45d3c9c-88ce-11ea-b97c-9f86dc86bd32.html
Opposition to the construction of the gym annex developed throughout the 1970s. In 1976, several students went to a Kent State Board of Trustees meeting and expressed their concerns about the proposed site of the gym annex.
http://www.kentwired.com/article_a45d3c9c-88ce-11ea-b97c-9f86dc86bd32.html
The Kent State incident forced the National Guard to re-examine its methods of crowd control. The only equipment the guardsmen had to disperse demonstrators that day were M1 Garand rifles loaded with .30-06 FMJ ammunition, 12 Ga. pump shotguns, bayonets, and CS gas grenades. In the years that followed, the U.S. Army began using less lethal means of dispersing demonstrators (such as rubber bullets), and changed its crowd control and riot tactics to attempt to avoid casualties amongst the demonstrators. Many of the crowd-control changes brought on by the Kent State events are used today by police and military forces in the United States when facing similar situations, such as the 1992 Los Angeles riots and civil disorder during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
http://www.self.gutenberg.org/articles/eng/Kent_State_shootings
"At the approximate time of the firing on the campus," he added. "the Ohio Highway Patrol—via a helicopter—spotted a sniper on a nearby building." Some students contended the "sniper" actually was one of several student photographers atop Taylor Hall.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ap-national-guard-kills-students-kent-state-70479408
An official of the Ohio Highway Patrol today disputed reports from the Ohio National Guard that a sniper was spotted by police helicopter before Guardsmen shot four Kent State University students to death Monday during an antiwar demonstration.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ap-national-guard-kills-students-kent-state-70479408
Jerry Stoklas, 20, a campus newspaper photographer, said he witnessed the shootings from a rooftop. He said about 400 students were harassing the guardsmen and "they turned and opened fire. I saw five people go down."
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ap-national-guard-kills-students-kent-state-70479408