Friday Reporters’ Roundtable

Posted Friday, October 8, 2010

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New audio recording analysis of the May 4, 1970 Kent State University shootings suggest the National Guard was not the first to open fire. Friday on the Reporters' Roundtable, we'll discuss the audio analysis, state politics, get new details in the Cuyahoga County corruption scandal; Jimmy Dimora gets his day in court...next summer; a closer look at the frenzied pace of executions in Ohio; and why the Mayor of Akron wants a state arbitrator investigated after he sided with the police union. Join us with your take on the week's news, Friday morning at 9 on 90.3.

Guests

Doug Oplinger, Managing Editor, Akron Beacon Journal
Chris Quinn, Metro Editor, The Plain Dealer
Bill Cohen, Reporter, Statehouse News Bureau

Additional Information

Kent State tape indicates altercation and pistol fire preceded National Guard shootings, John Mangels, The Plain Dealer
Rivals for governor sharpen their skills for Thursday's debate
Polls show volatility in governor's race
Judge sets Sept. 12, 2011, trial date for Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora
Akron priest could face prison for embezzlement scheme

Please follow our community discussion rules when composing your comments.

Cliff 10:12 AM 10/8/10

Good Morning: Please play the tape of Gov.Rhodes saying the students deserved what they got,and until that wound is examined that statement haunts me.

Doug, Ohio City 10:13 AM 10/8/10

I graduated from Kent in 2005 with my degree in History, even before I chose to attend there my parents had always discussed the importance of the shootings on a national and historic level and that the event was to be treated with appropriate reverence. During my time there I watched as individual groups would hijack the somber day and almost make a mockery of it by using it to further their own separate causes, specifically thinking of the Spring of 2004 when the city was shut down by the Highway Patrol due to the fear of unrest and protests.
I think the more information we can find out about May 4, 1970 the more my generation (Millennials) will have a greater appreciation and understanding of the importance of this event in U.S. history.

James, Columbus 10:13 AM 10/8/10

I disagree about the attitude of the students. These were blue collar kids and they were the ones being drafted and sent into the meat grinder that was Vietnam.

The elite Ivy League students protested for philosophical reasons, but they were exempt from the draft until the last year of the war. The kids at Kent State were likely not exempt from the draft. So they had every reason to be angry.

Bob Rhubart 10:27 AM 10/8/10

The discussion of the Kent shootings included many references to the attitude held by many at the time that protesting against US government policies was anti-patriotic. How interesting, then, that in 2010 anti-government protest is perceived by many—and I’m thinking of the Tea Party here—as the epitome of patriotism.

Steven 2:27 PM 10/8/10

I served three years(1958-1961) with the 82 airborne division. While there, we frequently receved training, and drilled for riot control. One of the principle ideas that was drilled into our heads, was that, we would not be given live ammunition. Our discipline and fixed bayonets would enable us to intimidate the mob. In the case that we would come under fire, a senior NCO positioned in the center of our “V” formation would have live ammunition to return fire as necessary.

This was the situation for a highly trained and disciplined regular military unit. What happened in the interim? Issuing live ammunition to the National Guardsmen was not only misguided and foolhardy. It was downright criminal.