New light shed on Kent State killings--Shots fired at Guard, declassified files indicate

The Washington Times ^ | May 4, 2010 | James Rosen

[jazusamo]

Previously undisclosed FBI documents suggest that the Kent State antiwar protests were more meticulously planned than originally thought and that one or more gunshots may have been fired at embattled Ohio National Guardsmen before their killings of four students and woundings of at least nine others on that searing day in May 1970.

As the nation marks the 40th anniversary of the Kent State antiwar protests Tuesday, a review of hundreds of previously unpublished investigative reports sheds a new — and very different — light on the tragic episode.

The upheaval that enveloped the northeastern Ohio campus actually began three days earlier, in downtown Kent. Stirred to action by President Nixon's expansion of U.S. military operations in Cambodia, a roving mob of earnest antiwar activists, hard-core radicals, curious students and others smashed 50 bank and store windows, looted a jewelry store and hurled bricks and bottles at police.

Four officers suffered injuries, and the mayor declared a civil emergency. Only tear gas dispersed the mob.

An exhaustive review later concluded that this unrest on the streets — the worst in Kent's history — was "not an organized riot or a planned protest."

But the FBI's investigation swiftly uncovered reliable evidence that suggested otherwise. Among the strongest was a pre-dawn conversation — never before reported — between two unnamed men overheard inside a campus lounge later that night. Their discussion was witnessed by the girlfriend of a Kent State student and conveyed up the FBI chain of command 15 days later.

"We did it," one man exulted, according to the inquiry. "We got the riot started."

The second man expressed disappointment at being excluded from the riot's planning. "Wait until tomorrow night," the leader replied excitedly. "We just got the word. We're going to burn the ROTC building."

[sport]

Go torment someone else. Me and you have no rap.

[Myrddin]

I just spent about an hour trying to "look it up". The answer is there was never any ballistic testing done. Absent that proof, the caliber of the bullets that hit the students is still unknown. The .38 revolver in the possession of Terry Norman had been fired. There were 30-06 bullets found in a statue and nearby tree. Presumably, 67 expended 30-06 casings were recovered. Revolvers don't eject brass, so no accounting is available for where Norman's rounds struck. It is unlikely he would have attempted a reload, so nominally 6 rds could have been discharged.

[Free Vulcan]

You don’t think the movement stopped December 31st 1969 did you?

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

You don’t think the movement stopped December 31st 1969 did you?

No, but something that happened in the 70's can not be one of the foundations of the 60's movement. It is not mathematically possible.

Now if you had said the radical movement or communist movement or the anti-American movement or pro Soviet movement then you would have been correct but time flows only in one direction. (As far as we know. Some people disagree. But they have yet to come back with any proof.)

[DoughtyOne]

Yes, and McCarthy was so right. Look at the place, all the commies running around screwing this nation into the dirt.

[Shooter 2.5]

Would ballistic tests be necessary when the coroner pulled .308 bullets out of the dead students? Wouldn’t a coroner understand the difference between a lead bullet measuring .357 and a jacketed bullet measuring .308?

[Shooter 2.5]

I never knew there were so many Lon Horiuchis on Free Republic.

[Shooter 2.5]

Killed (and approximate distance from the National Guard):

Jeffrey Glenn Miller; 20, 265 ft (81 m) shot through the mouth - killed instantly
Allison B. Krause; 19, 343 ft (105 m) fatal left chest wound - died later that day
William Knox Schroeder; 19, 382 ft (116 m) fatal chest wound - died almost an hour later in hospital while waiting for surgery
Sandra Lee Scheuer; 20, 390 ft (120 m) fatal neck wound - died a few minutes later from loss of blood
Wounded (and approximate distance from the National Guard):

Joseph Lewis Jr. 71 ft (22 m); hit twice in the right abdomen and left lower leg
John R. Cleary 110 ft (34 m); upper left chest wound
Thomas Mark Grace 225 ft (69 m); struck in left ankle
Alan Michael Canfora 225 ft (69 m); hit in his right wrist
Dean R. Kahler 300 ft (91 m); back wound fracturing the vertebrae - permanently paralyzed from the chest down
Douglas Alan Wrentmore 329 ft (100 m); hit in his right knee
James Dennis Russell 375 ft (114 m); hit in his right thigh from a bullet and in the right forehead by birdshot - both wounds minor (died 2007)
Robert Follis Stamps 495 ft (151 m); hit in his right buttock (died June 11, 2008)
Donald Scott MacKenzie 750 ft (230 m); neck wound

[FreedomPoster]

Thanks for that link.

[Myrddin]

The .308 jacketed bullets recovered is sufficient to distinguish M1 vs .38SPL. The distance claimed also argue for .30-06. The failure to do the ballistic matches between the NG M1 rifles and recovered bullets leaves in question exactly who fired. Were the rifles assigned to specific persons or passed out on a first come, first serve from the armory? We'll never know...and the answer wouldn't change anything.

[Free Vulcan]

OK, but this is history and not math. ‘The 60’s Movement’ is a catch-all phrase to describe that whole period of time. Maybe not mathematically accurate, but that’s term that’s used.

[dusttoyou]

Doubtful your find many other hippy sympathizers here either.

[Shooter 2.5]

Did you notice the distances where each college kid was killed or wounded? One kid was hit just as he was about to enter the library. Not one of the Guardsman was hit by gunfire. Not one of the dead or wounded was found to have a firearm.

Did you see those ridiculous pictures of the riot police guarding the grandmothers at one of the Tea Party rallies?

Now let me ask a question and hope for a serious answer. The left has been infiltrating the Tea Parties lately. If one of those instigators started shooting, would you expect the police to retaliate with 67 rounds into the crowd of Tea Partiers?

[Shooter 2.5]

But there were autopsies done on the victims which I wasn’t sure of at the time.

http://www.library.kent.edu/page/14820

The autopsies would have proved all the dead and wounded were shot by the Guardsman but not which soldier hit which student.

[Palter]

FBI informant and agent-provocateur in the crowds.

Disturbing how often people support Gov’t.

[fwdude]

...there’s no doubt that the Guardsmen were in fear for there lives.

There are numerous reliable witness accounts that the crowd surrounding the guards were chanting, "kill, kill, kill...," more than enough justification for using deadly force considering the outright violent, anarchist acts committed in the days before.

[fwdude]

Riots had been going on for the previous few years and from what I saw there was a command failure.

Agreed. The retribution against the rioters should have been decisively more heavy handed and should have occurred days/years earlier. We were loosing our nerve due to the fact that they were "our children."

[happinesswithoutpeace]

/

[wardaddy]

Hear hear partner...you are spot on with this one.

The ignorant rants by some here is appalling.

Where the hell do they form their opinions from?

Reckon they even know one of these kids killed was an ROTC boy on his way to class 100 plus yards away...outta brick throwing range for my arm even on a good day.

I salute you.