While parents engaged in anti-busing protests, college campuses seethed with anti-war sentiments. "Peace with honor" (as Richard Nixon liked to say) seemed an elusive concept. As the President conducted a press conference on April 30, 1970 (to explain why he had sent B-52s into Cambodia to bomb "Viet Cong" strongholds), a protest at
Kent State University was brewing. It began the next day (May 1, 1970). Among other reasons,
students were upset that innocent Cambodians were being killed.
By May 4th, members of the Ohio National Guard, sent to the Kent State campus, were ready for battle. Armed with tear gas, rifles and fixed bayonets, they looked as though they were about to end an armed insurrection. Examining the police photographs today, one can only wonder what both sides must have been thinking when the National Guard
fired (don't miss this video) into the crowd of
people (this link includes oral histories) milling about on campus.
Four unarmed students were killed and nine others were injured at Kent State. (One individual, Dean Kahler, was permanently paralyzed.) Not all the dead students were part of the protest movement.
After the shootings, an injunction temporarily closed the University. Students (scroll down to “Photos”) and their professors had to find other means to finish the term.
Meanwhile, as African-American students were still trying to find other means to begin equal educational opportunities, the case filed by Dr. Swann had made its way to the United States Supreme Court.