1970 tape recording of Kent State shootings reveals sound of pistol shots

Washington Post ^ | 10/08/10 | AP

[DFG]

CLEVELAND - A tape recording of the 1970 shooting deaths of four Kent State University students by Ohio National Guardsmen reveals the sound of pistol shots 70 seconds earlier, a newspaper reported Friday citing the work of a forensic audio expert.

The finding lends support to a theory that the guardsmen thought they were being shot at during a campus Vietnam War protest. Witnesses said at the time that an FBI informant monitoring the protest fired warning shots because he felt threatened.

[DFG]

The Kent State incident was clearly the fault of the student protesters and not the National Guardsmen.

[GeronL]

It is not like they will ever correct the history taught and written about.

[RJR_fan]

Tin soldiers and Nixon’s comin’

[nickcarraway]

Did you read the article. I’m not sure anything is clear, but it seems like there is some evidence a photographer working for the FBI fired the shots. Not that I’m fans of the protesters, but if this agent of the FBI fired the shots, it wasn’t the fault of them.

[Yorlik803]

All Kent State proved is that the Ohio National Guard needed more time at the rifle range.

[goat granny]

Your right on with that statement...and it took shooting some of those students to put an end to the college riots...If they could get hurt, it wasn’t such a good idea to burn building and trash other buildings....or throw blood all over everything......

[Krankor]

Many believe the events contributed to the change in the public's attitude toward the war, which ended five years later.

I guess it was one of those slow moving changes.

[hinckley buzzard]

The four shots from a .38 have been an open secret ever since the event. The NG commander on the scene reported them in the investigation. They were reported in the media at the time but sank from the official story. One wonders what difference it will make now that they have been credibly verified.

[GeronL]

Likely the Leftstream media will make this a one-time story and then not change their narrative

[Borges]

Two of the four students killed had nothing to do with the protests and were walking to class.

[Repeal The 17th]

That is a point in history that I don’t even like to think about.
There was plenty of blame to go around on that terrible day.
Even “if” there were earlier gunshots,
that does not justify indiscriminate shooting into a crowd of students.

[DJ MacWoW]

Did you read the article.

You are reading WaPo propaganda. Try this.

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

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

[Cicero]

Two of the four students killed had nothing to do with the protests and were walking to class.

Unfortunately, that's what happens when you have riots and political terrorism. It's not always the guilty who get killed if the police (or national guard) feel obliged to open fire.

Equally bad things happen if you DON'T open fire, like the innocent Jewish bystander who was killed in the Brooklyn riots because a black mayor didn't allow the police to take action against black rioters.

[An American In Dairyland]

It IS the students’ fault 100%. What the hell were they doing there in the first place? Seems to me their mommies and daddies sent them to college to GO TO CLASSES and not to start disputes with men with GUNS. How stupid do you have to be to either throw rocks or make gun shot noises or shoot guns at an army of TRAINED soldiers? How STUPID? These dirty unwashed spoiled brat hippies are the VERY SAME turds who are running our government today and ruining our lives. More of them could have gone down and I still wouldn’t shed a single tear over any one of them.

[Gay State Conservative]

Not that I’m fans of the protesters, but if this agent of the FBI fired the shots, it wasn’t the fault of them.

Yes,that could be true.But it also suggests (in not proves) that it wasn't the Guard's fault either.

[Nepeta]

Two of the four students killed had nothing to do with the protests and were walking to class.

Not all of the four were even Kent State students.

I was at Ohio State at the time. If you wanted to stay well clear of potential trouble, it was straightforward enough. They didn't get out of bed until noon, so you could go anywhere until noon. They raised hell with the NG en masse; individual NG checking IDs of anyone being cooperative were polite and no trouble at all to deal with.

I didn't miss a class. I was never late for a class.

[Gay State Conservative]

Not that I’m fans of the protesters, but if this agent of the FBI fired the shots, it wasn’t the fault of them.

Yes,that could be true.But it also suggests (in not proves) that it wasn't the Guard's fault either.

[nickcarraway]

I have no doubt that the riots were planned ala Chicago anf the planners were thrilled with the outcome. I wouldn’t say that exactly what happened is clear. I can only assume that the FBI hid this exculpatory evidence for a reason. I’m not sure, but perhaps to cover up the fact that they had this idiot photographer running around with a .38, and he may have contributed to the situation. Who knows, maybe he thought he would win the Pulitzer if he could get them firing on the crowd. At that time, the FBI was often using shaky assets like that.

[I cannot think of a name]

“Two of the four students killed had nothing to do with the protests and were walking to class.”

The saddest fact of the entire event - and one that neither side ever makes much mention of.

Whether the gurardsmen felt threatend or not, whether somebody fired shots or not - there were apparently a bunch of armed people in United States uniforms that couldn't hit the broad side of a barn!

[UCANSEE2]

The media portrayed the Kent State incident as a one day peaceful protest against the Vietnam War, where the cops fired at students for no reason.

What they avoided mentioning to the public was that the ‘students’ (mostly communist supported anarchists) were setting cars on fire, setting off bombs, and had already killed one police officer, in the lead-up to the day of the shootings.