Kent State shooting

Occurred on May 4, 1970 at Kent State University. It was student demonstration time in Kent. The night before some students had damaged some downtown buildings. The governor sent in the National Guard. On May 4th, students were protesting and hanging around watching the goings on. When some moved toward the guard, the guard opened fire, killing 4 and injuring others. Whether it was a plot or a panic is still a matter of debate.

Kent State University has yet to move on from this event. There are 3 memorials currently on campus for the four students. The first is a simple rock with a plaque. The second is a large memorial which is so symbolic they have pamphlets near it to explain the symbolism to you. The third is very morbid, actually marking out graves where the four students died. Kent State University has a May 4th task force that consists of people who weren't even alive when the shootings happened. It's their "job" to make sure we never forget (or move on...)

I've been aware of the Kent State shootings since I was very young. When my dad came back from Kent State this year, he showed me some of the video footage he took. I saw Alan Canfora giving a tour of that horrible day, where everyone was shot(including himself), etc..and it had a VERY powerful effect on me.

The next day I spent 6 hours studying from the FBIwebsite the info they released about the Kent State Massacre--all 1,146 pages of it. Well, first of all, most of it(of course)was blacked out, but I did manage to learn something about our government.: they don't give a rats a** about those innocent people they targeted and decided that they and their families were going to have a completely changed life from that moment on...(I.E. dealing with the injuries of themselves and loved ones, and dealing with the deaths of those four good people).

Growing up in a very "politically active" family, I have always known of the facade that we call our freedom, but after reading those FBI files my eyes have been burned open with red hot pokers. I simply don't understand why only about 150 of those FBI pages had anything to do with the shootings, the rest of their investigation was about the previous burning of the ROTC building, which even they decided that it was probably not burned down by the people they were accusing (the protesters did try to set the building on fire, but it kept going out. I believe they managed to burn a curtain). Interesting how our govt will take the information gathered by their own employees and twist it around to whatever they want it to be.

I am utterly shocked and appalled to see the truth of our lack of freedom...what do they really mean when they say "innocent until proven guilty"? We're only innocent if they are in the mood to say we are? I for one am sick of "them" using our Constitution as their toilet paper, I think they have long since spit on the memory and hard work of the people who gave their lives to write that document.

As my dad said, the one day I spent learning about the Kent State Massacre is like only one day of a really good history class, and there is so much more for me to learn. But now that my eyes have been scorched open by this sick and very sad reality, I believe that I am now more willing to learn and help out than ever. I'm glad I'm old enough to really get a grasp of what I'm seeing. Time for me to get off my soapbox now, but I leave with this statement said by some great and terribly misunderstood people: THE WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING. Don't forget that, and don't stop watching.