By Scott A. Grant
mail@floridanewsline.com
On the afternoon of May 4, 1970, shots rang out on the campus of Kent State University in Ohio. Chrissy Hynde and hundreds of other students ran screaming in terror. Most of the students were there to protest the war in Vietnam and the recent escalation of that war into Cambodia. Some, of course, were just walking across campus.
The National Guard was there that day to disperse the protestors. The current round of protests had been going on for four days and had erupted in violence. The protestors carried signs that said, “Stop the War!” and “Impeach Nixon!” with the X in Nixon converted into a Swastika. The protests were largely peaceful, but violence erupted on a number of occasions with students throwing beer bottles and rocks at the police, breaking windows downtown, and starting fires.
There were unfounded rumors of more violence to come, including the possibility of activists spiking the town’s water supply with LSD. The university administration, the mayor of Kent, and Ohio Governor James A. Rhodes were beside themselves. The governor called the protestors fascists and communists and decided to call in the Ohio National Guard “to eradicate the problem.”
On the night of May 3, the National Guard used tear gas to disperse a crowd of protestors. When the students reassembled downtown, the guard moved in with bayonets to drive the protestors back to their dorms. Several claimed to have been wounded by either bayonet or rifle butt. The guardsmen shouted “Get back! Get back!” and the crowd ran away in terror.
The next day, the fateful day, student protestors convened again, this time on the commons near the “Victory Bell.” The bell was usually rung to celebrate victories by the Kent State football team. The preceding fall the team finished with a record of five wins and five losses.
The protest began with the ringing of the Victory Bell. At that point, the guard began to advance and used a bullhorn to order the protestors to disperse. They did not. The guard fired canisters of tear gas from M79 grenade launchers, but it was too windy, and the gas did not have the desired effect.
The guard advanced again with bayonets and drove the protestors out of the commons and up an area called Blanket Hill. Reaching the top of the hill, students moved off to the left and the right. Having reached the top of the hill and being uncertain what to do next as they were now seemingly surrounded by student protestors, some of whom threw rocks at the soldiers, the National Guard, no doubt fearful, spontaneously began to discharge their weapons into the crowd. They fired 67 rounds in 13 seconds, killing four.
Nixon and others hoped the violent response by the state would put an end to the protests. It did not. Following Kent State, anti-Vietnam War protests spread like wildfire across the country. Just five days later, 100,000 people showed up to demonstrate in Washington. Nixon fled to Camp David. Anti-war sentiment grew.
Chrissy Hynde left Kent State and moved to Europe, where she ultimately fronted a band called The Pretenders. Later in life, she would become critical of the protests, saying, “All of us hippies were conned.”
Scott A. Grant is a local historian and author. By day he is president of Standfast Asset Management. He welcomes your comments at scottg@standfastic.com.
