Title: 1970 - Kent State Massacre

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About: Four students were killed and nine  injured when members of the Ohio National Guard open fire on a crowd gathered to protest the Vietnam War.

 

The decision of President Nixon to widen the scope of the Vietnam conflict through incursions in Cambodia resulted in protests at colleges and universities across the country. At Kent State, thousands of students gathered at the center of campus that had been the site of large demonstrations and other events in the past.

 

The students were calling for peace and to remember those killed in the war.

On May 1, 500 students filled the Kent State campus, where they marched and made speeches. The protesters continued on for the next few days, with the crowd growing larger. By May 4, the day of the Kent State Massacre, there were 2,000 people on the campus handing out leaflets, making speeches, and standing up to demand peace.

 

Nervous about what these people would do, the state sent in the National Guard, who ordered the demonstrators to disperse. However, the protestors weren’t ready to leave. Some hurled rocks at the National Guardsmen and chased them away.

 

But soon the guardsmen came back, this time with gas masks, tear gas, and rifles. The National Guardsmen hurled tear gas into the crowd and chased the people who fled. Then, when some demonstrators wouldn’t leave and tried to hurl the tear gas back at them, they pulled out their rifles and opened fire on the crowd, with tragic consequences.

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Over the next few days, 4 million people came out in protest of the Kent State Massacre. Anti-Vietnam campaigns became bigger than ever, and the way the US responded to protests changed forever.

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Decade: 1970s

Year: 1970

Region: North America

Country: USA

Politics: Protest

Society: Crime

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Type: Historical Event

Impact: 3

Artist: Bryan Willian

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Group: Genesis

Number: 70/100

Price: 0.3 ETH

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