Progressive Representatives Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Cori Bush (D-Minn.) said that police responses to pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses were similar to the Kent State Massacre on its 54th anniversary on Saturday.
Omar said, 54 years ago, the Ohio National Guard shot at unarmed students at Kent State. Students have the right to speak out, organize, and protest injustices. said She added that dissenting voices should not be silenced, no matter how uncomfortable their protests may be for those in power.
Four students were killed and nine were injured at Kent State University in Ohio on May 4, 1970, when the Ohio National Guard fired upon an anti-Vietnam War protest crowd. after In recent incidents, violence erupted as police clashed with protestors at Columbia University and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) during pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
Two notable Both the New York Police Department (NYPD) and Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) cracked down on pro-Palestinian protesters at the two schools.
Bush expressed solidarity with students, saying, "On the 54th anniversary of the Kent State Massacre, students across our country are being brutalized for standing up to endless war." said She added, "Our country must learn to uphold the rights of free speech & assembly upon which it was founded. Solidarity with our students."
The comparisons followed reports that an NYPD officer accidentally fired a round while searching a Columbia University building taken over by protesters earlier this week. No one was injured during the incident, according to the NYPD. clearing An NYPD spokesperson stated that an Emergency Service Unit officer discharged his firearm while trying to navigate through a barricaded area using a flashlight. The round struck a frame in the wall and did not cause any injuries.
In the incident, the officer was attempting to access a barricaded area and accidentally discharged his firearm, hitting a frame on the wall. There were no injuries reported.
The ESU officer was using his firearm's flashlight to find a way through the barricade when the accidental discharge happened. Fortunately, no one was hurt by the discharged round.
