Remember Kent State? Military response to protests is dangerous Editorial [View all]
There’s a saying by German philosopher Georg Hegel about humankind’s failure to learn from our past mistakes: “The only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history.”
Unfortunately, those wise words appear to be playing out yet again.
The tragic events of May 4, 1970, at Kent State University hold an infamous place in American history.
Four people died and nine were wounded when the Ohio National Guard opened fire on protesters demonstrating against the U.S. invasion of Cambodia during the Vietnam War.
Who can forget the iconic, chilling photo of a teenage girl screaming by the lifeless body of a student killed by the National Guard’s barrage of bullets?
The times are different and the issues have changed. Today’s protests in California aren’t against a foreign war but rather concerns over immigration raids in Los Angeles.
But when 2,000 National Guard members were activated in California under orders from President Donald Trump, for many, it conjured up painful memories of the shootings at Kent State 55 years ago…..
https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/opinion/editorials/2025/06/12/national-guard-deployment-california-protests-wrong-kent-state-shootings-1970-editorial/84137958007/?tbref=hp
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