“If a city or state refuses to take the actions necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them.” – Donald Trump, during his first term as President, about all the protests following the 2020 death of Black American George Floyd at the hands of police.
A Brief Commentary by Doug Draper
Posted May 4th, 2025 on Niagara At Large
A Memorial for students shot at Kent State University, near the spot on campus where the students fell. File photo taken by Doug Draper during a 30th anniversary gathering at the university
In the spring of 1970, I was still a young, idealistic high school kid who believed, as I still do, that raising your voice in protest for good reasons can open paths to a better world.
So on May 4th of that year – exactly 55 years ago today – when I heard the news that four unarmed students were shot dead and several others were wounded by military clad National Guardsmen for protesting on the campus of Kent State University in Ohio against the War in Vietnam, I was shaken to the core as so many others, at that time, were.
All these years later, maybe I am being a bit paranoid, but I can’t help but fear that what happened then to quell protesters exercising their democratic right to speak out on a campus or on some other public grounds in the United States, could happen again.
Photos of the four students shot and killed on May 4th, 1970 by National Guardsmen during anti war protests on the campus of Kent State University in Ohio.
On our side of the border, in Canada, we can pick up a newspaper or turn on the television news and read or hear about the growing number of protests taking place across the United States over Trump’s dangerous policies, including the trade war he is waging that is already having a negative impact on jobs, businesses and the price of goods in his country and ours.
National Guardsmen opening fire on unarmed student protesters on the campus of Kent State University in Ohio. May 4th, 1970
And in Trump, there is a president in the White House – one who is planning to have a Putin-style military parade through the streets Washington D.C. on his birthday this June and who has talked about using the military before to shoot protesters, who is now surrounded by virtually no one who would say “no” or stop him from using lethal force against protesters any time he may want to in the days or months ahead.
An iiconic photo of a young woman over the body of a student shot and killed on the campus of Kent State University. May 4th, 1970
That leaves me fearing for so many of our American friends and neighbours who are as opposed as most of us are to the threats and damage Trump is doing to his country and to Canada and other free and democratic countries around, and who are, in growing numbers, showing the courage to take their opposition to the streets.
I fear that one day we will turn on the news to find out that Trump has done something that makes the Kent State shootings look quaint by comparison.
For every one of us on both sides of the border who believes in free and open democracy, and the right to express our opposition to government actions in peace, I hope I’m wrong.
-
RIP to the victims of the Kent State shootings, Doug Draper, Niagara At Large
Here is the song that Canadian-borne rock legend Neil Young wrote and recorded with the group Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in the days after the Kent State shootings. You can hear it by clicking on the screen immediately below –
For related news on the Kent State shootings and a vigil held for the students who were killed this May 4th, 2025, click on – https://laurelkrause.substack.com/p/marking-the-55th-at-kent-state-and
NIAGARA AT LARGE Encourages You To Join The Conversation By Sharing Your Views On This Post In The Space Following The Bernie Sanders Quote Below.
“A Politician Thinks Of The Next Election. A Leader Thinks Of The Next Generation.” – Bernie Sanders
Niagara At Large 