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Kent State responds to Michigan official's 'abhorrent' tweet about May 4

Posted at 3:30 PM, Feb 06, 2017
and last updated 2017-02-06 15:58:59-05

A politician in Michigan is causing controversy for his comments on the Kent State massacre in 1970. 

In response to the recent protests at University of California, Berkeley, the leader of a county Republican party tweeted: "Violent protesters who shut down free speech? Time for another Kent State perhaps. One bullet stops a lot of thuggery." 

GOP Official Dan Adamini was referring to the May 4, 1970 shooting in which four students were killed by the Ohio National Guard.

The politician has since apologized, saying he supports peace.  

In response, Kent State University issued this statement: 

May 4, 1970, was a watershed moment for the country and especially the Kent State University family. We lost four students that day while nine others were wounded and countless others were changed forever. 

This abhorrent post is in poor taste and trivializes a loss of life that still pains the Kent State community today.

We invite the person who wrote this statement to tour our campus and our May 4 Visitors Center, which opened four years ago, to gain perspective on what happened 47 years ago and apply its meaning to the future.