“We felt that this was our campus, that we were doing nothing wrong, and that they had no right to order us to disperse. If anyone ought to leave, it’s them, not us.”

Tom Grace, The Shooting at Kent State(1970)

              Many Americans had protested the Vietnam War for different reasons by 1970. Especially college students protested strongly because college deferments would be abolished and students would be drafted into military service. Despite the strong protests over the nation, the government sent troops and bombed into Cambodia. It accelerated the protest movement and students of Kent State University held a protest on May 1, 1970. During the protest, four students were killed and nine students were wounded by the National Guard, and the National Guard was exempted from prosecution.

              Students had questioned the way the government slided into war, ignoring people’s intentions. Also, they believed their civil rights to express their opinions should be guaranteed as Tom grace thought, “we were doing nothing wrong, and that they had no right to order us to disperse.” However, the government tried to force people into silence in reality. The shooting at Kent State made people notice that they were actually oppressed by the government and it was not the government of, by and for people.