Parents' Guide to Kent State

KENT STATE takes place over four days in May 1970. It begins on Friday, May 1, as the school year at Ohio's Kent State University is coming to a close. There's an anti-Vietnam rally on campus that day and then students begin hitting the bars in downtown Kent. The party atmosphere turns into a small riot, the bars are closed, and local police begin tear gassing students as they leave the bars. On Saturday, someone sets the campus ROTC building on fire and the Ohio National Guard is called (with helicopters, bayonets, and guns) to restore order on the campus, which now feels like a war zone. On Sunday, hundreds of students gather demanding that the Guard leave campus. Guardsmen respond by chasing students across campus to their dorms, locking them in. Some students are bayoneted and sent to hospital. Monday's protests bring a final confrontation with the Guard. There's more tear gas and students begin throwing rocks. Then the General commanding the Guard orders them to move away from the students to another part of the campus. The students think they've won, until 28 Guardsmen turn and begin firing. Bill Schroeder is killed as he walks from a meeting with his ROTC advisor. Jeffrey Miller, an anti-war activist since he was 16, had been throwing rocks at the Guard. He dies instantly from a single gunshot. Alison Krause, who hated violence, is dying in her boyfriend's arms. Sandra Scheuer, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, is shot and killed while walking to her speech class. Nine others are shot and wounded.