On May 4, 1970, 54 years ago today, members of the Ohio National Guard opened fire on a crowd of student protesters gathered on the campus of Ohio’s Kent State University, killing four students and injuring another nine. Several hundred students had been protesting against the Nixon administration’s expansion of the Vietnam War into Cambodia, and the mayor of the city of Kent asked the governor of Ohio to bring in members of the National Guard. News coverage of the shooting of unarmed protesters dominated headlines around the world and spurred hundreds of protests across the country. Gathered below are images from that pivotal day in American history.
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View of a line of Ohio National Guardsmen, with rifles and gas masks, on the Kent State University campus as they prepare to disperse student protesters in Kent, Ohio, on May 4, 1970. The protests, initially over the U.S. invasion of Cambodia, resulted in the deaths of four protesters (and the injuries of nine others) after the National Guard opened fire on students.
#Howard Ruffner / Getty
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Demonstrators gather on Blanket Hill, on the Commons of Kent State University, for a student anti-war protest in Kent, Ohio, on May 4, 1970. In the background, students distribute sheets to protect themselves from tear gas. The building behind them is Johnson Hall.
#Howard Ruffner / Getty
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National guardsmen form a line in front of protesting students on the campus of Kent State University in this May 4, 1970, photo. In the foreground are the charred remains of the ROTC building, which had been set on fire on May 2, 1970.
#Bettmann / Getty
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National Guardsmen drive a jeep past protesters at Kent State University, ordering them to disperse.
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Kent State University patrolman Harold Rice, sitting in the passenger seat, uses a bullhorn to urge protesters to disperse.
#Howard Ruffner / Getty
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Original caption: View, from behind, as Ohio National Guardsmen in gas masks and with rifles as they prepare to advance up Blanket Hill, through clouds of tear gas, to drive back Kent State University students during an antiwar demonstration on the university’s campus, Kent, Ohio, May 4, 1970.
#Howard Ruffner / Getty
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Original caption: Kent State University student hurls tear gas canister back towards National Guardsmen as the military is called out May 4th to put down massive anti-war protest.
#Bettmann / Getty
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Original caption: View of students,
