Kent State Shootings Remembrance 2023: Date, History, Facts about OHIO

On May 4 of each year, Kent State Shootings Remembrance honours the lives of four unarmed college students slain during protests. Students peacefully protesting President Nixon’s pro-war policies were shot and slain by members of the Ohio National Guard on this date in 1970. The perpetrators of the atrocities escaped punishment and were never held accountable. The shootings at Kent State prompted furious protests on college campuses across the United States, which sparked the country’s most influential anti-war movement. Eight million pupils participated in a nationwide hunger strike, effectively paralysing the U.S. education system.

The background of Kent State Shootings Remembrance

Nixon announced on April 20, 1970, that the United States had withdrawn 115,500 troops from Vietnam and that an additional 150,000 would depart by the end of 1971. After years of escalation, the Vietnam War appeared to be nearing its conclusion. However, the elation was short-lived. Nixon proclaimed 10 days later that the United States and South Vietnam would launch a military offensive against Cambodia, which had long been considered a safe haven for North Vietnamese soldiers and the Viet Cong. Before Nixon’s announcement, the American public was unaware that the bombardment of Cambodia had begun months earlier. The following day, protests erupted on campuses across the nation.

In the meantime, Kent State students in Ohio prepared to join the anti-war movement. Discontent was widespread, and on May 1, students fueled by fury and alcohol set fire to trash cans and smashed store windows. The campus police had restored order by morning. Regardless, Mayor Leroy Satrom of Kent declared a civil emergency and asked Governor James A. Rhodes for assistance. Rhodes, a staunch conservative, dispatched the Ohio National Guard to stop conspiracies by “radicals.”

Kent State radical activity rumours continued to proliferate. The National Guard’s presence made demonstrators increasingly agitated. By May 3, nearly 1,200 National Guardsmen had arrived on campus. Guardsmen dispersed the crowd with bayonets and tear gas after reading the Riot Act in response to increasingly hostile demonstrations. Although unofficially, martial law was implemented. Authorities prohibited campus demonstrations, but many students remained ignorant or defiant. The academic year resumed on May 4. On the same day, more than 3,000 students congregated in the Commons to protest Nixon’s war and the National Guard’s presence on campus. The National Guard confronted the throng with live ammunition and Garand M-1 rifles. Guardsmen discharged 61 and 67 rounds into the air and crowd, killing four students and wounding nine others.

The entire nation was overwhelmed by anger and outrage. Hundreds of college campuses organised strikes, demonstrations, and rallies in the weeks that followed. The shootings at Kent State sparked a surge of anti-war activism throughout the United States, surpassing the student movement that forced Lyndon Johnson not to seek reelection.

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5 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT OHIO

Historically, Ohio has been the deciding or pivot state in U.S. presidential elections.

The region of Ohio contains over 6,000 burial mounds and forts constructed by ancient communities or “mound builders.”

Approximately fifty percent of the U.S. population resides within 500 miles of the state capital of Ohio, Columbus.

The Ohio flag, unlike other state flags, is pennant-shaped and not rectangular.

In 1967, Carl Stokes became the first African-American mayor of a significant city in Cleveland, Ohio.

KENT STATE SHOOTINGS REMEMBRANCE DATES