Word: guardsmen
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...report stated that the activities on May 1-4 at Kent State constituted a riot, and that the Guardsmen opened fire only ". . . in the honest and sincere belief . . . that they would suffer serious bodily injury had they not done so." The report also said that 58 Guardsmen were injured by thrown objects, and that a group of 74 Guardsmen were surrounded by several hundred chanting, rock-throwing students...
Rhodes disagreed sharply with the report. He said that a group of students was having a peaceful rally on Monday which was completely legal. The Guardsmen ordered the students to disperse, and then chased them up the hill toward Taylor Hall. He stated that the President's Commission found that no rocks had been thrown up to this point...
...When the Guardsmen reached the top of the hill, Rhodes claimed, the only students around them were
these on the veranda of Taylor Hall, coming out of their noon classes. He said that students were 50 yards away from the nearest soldiers-contrary to the grand jury's claim that the Guardsmen were surrounded. Rhodes produced unpublished photographs which documented this claim. Demonstrators had not yet thrown any rocks he said, and there was never any sniper fire...
Turning to Kent State, the commission "strongly suggested that no sniper fire preceded the 61-shot National Guard fusillade that resulted in the death of four students. It also took Guard leaders to task for allowing Guardsmen to carry live ammunition on campus. In contrast to the police at Jackson, however, Guardsmen at Kent State were portrayed as panic-stricken, acting out of confusion and fear...