Volu m e II - Purdue University Calumet

other, which resulted in the tension dissipating: “[A] car collided with a city electric truck, leaving an
electrician – who had been repairing the traffic light in the center of the intersection – hanging from the
light” (Best, 2010, p. 11). An alliance quickly formed between the student protesters and the policemen.
Their goal was to save the man hanging from the traffic light. Once the electrician had been saved, the
tension between the officers and the student protesters had lessened, which resulted in a quiet night on
Kent State University’s campus for the remainder of the evening. The incident with the electrician
demonstrated that a human life is extremely valuable and that people can put aside their differences to work
together for a better cause, for example, saving the electrician. Local law enforcement officers detained
fifteen people for disorderly conduct (U.S. President’s Commission on Campus Unrest, 1970). The events
of May 1 would set the stage for the events in the following days that led up to the disastrous shooting of
Kent State students.
The events of May 2, 1970 are extremely pertinent in the shooting of students at Kent State University.
The major factor that led to the National Guard coming to campus on May 2 was that there were many
rumors flying around. If these rumors had not been running rampant, then the National Guard would
probably have never come to Kent State. If the National Guard had never shown up, the shooting may not
have occurred.
On the morning of May 2, one major rumor was that radical students were planning on setting the
entire city ablaze (Best, 2010). However, many students helped clean up the mess in the city that was left
from the night before (Best, 2010). Many businesses of Kent were extremely anxious and afraid of threats
by students that their businesses would be damaged or destroyed; therefore they displayed signs in the
windows that had messages which showed opposition to the Vietnam War (U.S. President’s Commission
on Campus Unrest, 1970). An injunction was filed against 500 unnamed students, but it is unknown
whether or not the students were served with the injunction; however, the injunction is mentioned in a
Kent State pamphlet on Saturday (Best, 2010). The state of emergency, which had shut down bars and
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