The Kent State Shootings

On May 4, 1970, Ohio National Guard soldiers opened fire on student protesters at Kent State University during a demonstration against the U.S. invasion of Cambodia, killing four students and wounding nine others. The killings caused nationwide student strikes and protests. Despite grand jury proceedings and civil lawsuits spanning decades, no guardsmen were criminally convicted. The event became an iconic moment of the Vietnam War era, captured in a Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph by John Filo.