Questions have once again been raised regarding the events of the infamous 1970 Kent State shootings upon a 2010 analysis of an audio recording taken during the shootings. At the request of Cleveland’s Plain Dealer, New Jersey-based audio experts Stuart Allen and Tom Owen enhanced and evaluated the tape made by Terry Strubbe, a Kent alumnus who recorded the events with a microphone from his dormitory window.
The recording suggests that someone may have ordered National Guardsmen to fire on the student protestors, though officers denied giving such a command. After removing extraneous noises to clarify the voices, Allen and Owen observed such exclamations as “Guard!” followed quickly by the command, “prepare to fire!”
Alan Canfora, one of the students wounded in chaotic shootings, now serves as director of the Kent May 4 Center. Canfora has pushed for a full accounting of the events, to which the Justice Department has cited legal and evidentiary barriers that render the case impossible to reopen. On behalf of the other survivors, Canfora has maintained that they do not seek prosecution or punishment of the Guardsmen, but are pushing for an apology and admission of responsibility.
Original Sources:
Title: Justice Department won’t reopen probe of 1970 Kent State shootings
Author: John Mangels,
Source: Cleveland.com, Tues. April 24 2012.
http://www.cleveland.com/science/index.ssf/2012/04/justice_department_wont_re-ope.html
Title: Government Won’t Reopen Kent State Shootings Probe,”
Author: Sandy Fitzgerald,
Source: NewsMax, Tues. April 24, 2012.
http://www.newsmax.com/US/kent-state-shootings-probe/2012/04/24/id/436889
Title: Justice Department Won’t Reopen Kent State Shootings Case,”
Author: Thomas J. Sheeran,
Source: The Huffington Post, Tues. April 24 2012.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/24/kent-state-shootings-_n_1449080.html
Student Researcher: Brandon Drake, Sonoma State University
Faculty Evaluator: Dr. Mary Halavais, History, Sonoma State University