Here is a link to a
detailed article about the events leading up to the Kent State murders. Briefly, it tells of a series of student protests, not all of which were strictly about the war in Vietnam and Richard Nixon's very recent expansion of that war (on April 30, 1970) into Cambodia. One of the first rallies, on May 1st, was held by the Black United Students. According to the article: "Some 400 people gathered to hear black students talk about recent disorders with the Ohio National Guard on their campus."
Not all of the protests/rallies/actions were non-violent, although the May 4th one at least seemed to start out that way. On the evening of May 1st, a crowd gathered outside of bars in downtown Kent. They built a bonfire in the street (disruptive and unsettling, if not truly 'violent') and threw beer bottles at passing police cars (definitely not peaceful, definitely acts of violence). Windows of banks and other institutions were broken, a riot was declared by the police, who used tear gas and (k)nightsticks to herd the crowd towards campus.
The next day, a large number of protesters surrounded the ROTC building, which was scheduled to be demolished. After a series of events, the building burned to the ground. The article states: "The question of who set the fire that destroyed ROTC building has never been satisfactorily answered by any investigative body."
The terrible climax came on May 4. Around noon, 1500 students gathered in a protest were told to disperse immediately, but refused. The situation quickly degenerated from there. Over 100 armed troops began moving towards the students, who then began running. After this dispersion, the General in command ordered his troops to begin to retreat back up the hill:
"After reassembling on the field, the Guardsmen seemed to begin to retreat as they marched back up the hill, retracing their previous steps. Members of Troop G, while advancing up the hill, continued to glance back to the parking lot, where the most militant and vocal students were located. The students assumed the confrontation was over. Many students began to walk to their next classes.
As the guard reached the crest of the Blanket Hill, near the Pagoda of Taylor Hall, about a dozen members of Troop G simultaneously turned around 180 degrees, aimed and fired their weapons into the crowd in the Prentice Hall parking lot. The 1975 civil trials proved that there was a verbal command to fire.
A total of 67 shots were fired in 13 seconds. Four students: Allison Krause, Jeffrey Miller, Sandra Scheuer and William Schroeder were killed. Nine students were wounded: Joseph Lewis, John Cleary, Thomas Grace, Robbie Stamps, Donald Scott MacKenzie, Alan Canfora, Douglas Wrentmore, James Russell and Dean Kahler. Of the wounded, one was permanently paralyzed, and several were seriously maimed. All were full-time students."
From this account, it seems to me that an armed force set out to disperse unarmed protesters, resulting in four students murdered and one paralyzed.
I understand from this account also that there were riots in the days leading up to the May 4th event, and that a building was burnt to the ground. Yet in the riots--even the one with the beer bottles smashing into police cars--students were the ones who were injured. They were bayoneted and beaten by armed authorities. What I am able to gather is that students were throwing rocks and also chucking tear gas cannisters (that had been thrown at them) back at the National Guard, and the Guard attacked with batons, bayonets, and on May 4th, bullets.
