Transcription of the recorded statement of Michael Lynch conducted by the Commission on KSU Violence.

[Beginning of Tape 1]

[Michael Lynch]: My name is Michael Lynch, I’m a Senior at Kent State University. I live presently at 4711 East 71st Street in Cuyahoga Heights, Ohio.

After 10 o’clock, Sunday evening, I entered off of Route 43 and I tried to come up Crane Avenue, but was stopped by a policeman who told me that the city had been closed and was under martial law and that I would have to get to my apartment at Glen Morris by some back roads. I then proceeded down Franklin Street to Cherry Street, up Cherry Street to Bowman Drive, Bowman Drive to Morris Road. After I parked my automobile and went to my apartment, I came back outside to find across from me four helicopters flying overhead with large searchlights on them. They seemed to be aiming the light not only at Glenn Morris parking lot, but University School. It was apparent that they were flying over all parts of Kent State’s campus using the searchlights to look for crowds of people, I supposed.

I then walked up Morris Road and stood approximately 200 yards from Summit Street–the corner of Summit Street and Morris Road. And at the corner there were, I would say, approximately 30 police officers, and I saw probably about 15 Guardsmen. I was able to walk up to within about 40 yards of Summit Street and I could see two caravans parked further down Summit Street, located right about the bus pull off. While standing at my location approximately 40 yards from Summit Street, there was a group of University students located in a home at the corner of Summit Street and Morris Road. Students were playing music out of an upstairs window. The town police or highway patrol asked four National Guardsmen to enter the home and have the music turned off. It was–the action was carried out. As I tried to walk closer to Summit Street, I was warned by a police officer that if I took another step forward, I would be arrested. Now, this was approximately 10:30 p.m. Sunday evening.

So, I retreated back to my original position which was the first driveway entering in the Glen Morris apartments. I talked with some students and also the Portage Security Officer and at that time, we had found out that the curfew in Kent had been moved up to 11 o’clock–1 a.m. to 11 p.m. Upon finding this information out, I went back to my apartment and listened to a news broadcast–a program on WKSU FM until about 2 a.m. in the morning and finally went to sleep at about 2:30. On Monday morning, May the 4th, I arose at approximately 7 o’clock to attend a 7:45 class. I arrived at the campus–on campus for the first time since leaving Friday afternoon at about 7:35. My first class was in Satterfield Hall. It was sparsely attended.

I sat through the class, I went on to my second class, which was at 8:50, and was located over at the education building. While walking across the campus, I was afraid–somewhat scared. It was the first time that I had ever been on a campus with National Guardsmen standing with loaded rifles. I knew they were loaded because the previous night I had talked to about a half dozen Guardsmen who had told me that each one of them were given eight rounds of live ammunition when they were called out for the Teamster Confrontation, and that they retained the ammunition upon being called into the city of Kent. They were called on to the University campus. Upon reaching the education building, I was told to–by many other students to stay out of the building, that there was a bomb scare which frightened me even worse. I went–I then proceeded to the Union and had coffee and talked to other students who felt very much the same way that I did. There was a feeling of uneasiness among us. Uneasiness because of the fact that the National Guard was on campus and martial law had been declared.

I remained in the Union until my next class, which was at 9:55. I was walking back toward Satterfield Hall, of course, going past the strong Guard at the burned-out ROTC building. I arrived at my class to find it had more or less been canceled because the professor was not there. I was not really too willing to wait and I left the classroom and just walked about wondering, thinking to myself. I headed back toward the Student Union and I went–I remained at the Union during my 9:55 class. I drank coffee, I talked with people. Once again, I found that most the people felt the same way as the ones I had spoken to earlier in the day. [Unintelligible] were somewhat scared of the Guard and afraid of what might happen with loaded weapons in their hands.

I stayed at the Union until approximately 11 o’clock–somewhere between 11 o’clock and 11:20 when I began walking toward The Commons. I was going to The Commons mainly to see what was going to take place at 12 o’clock for a rally that had been called at 12 o’clock.

[End of Tape 1]

[Beginning of Tape 2]

[Unknown Speaker]: This is the first continuation of Mike Lynch.

[Michael Lynch]: When I was going over to The Commons, the rally I spoke of earlier had been called Friday. After the rally on The Commons, they would burn the United States Constitution, which was in opposition to President Nixon’s announcement involving the United States troops in Cambodia and South Vietnamese forces. At that time, a student strike had been put on, people were talking about abolishing ROTC from campus. And I walked over toward The Commons and when I arrived there were National Guard that had remained in the area of the burned-out ROTC building. Some were located near Van Deusen Hall, others were located in the area of the Liberty Bell.

There were students that were standing around. Some were just sitting, others were conversing and I stood alone up near Stopher Hall. I remained in my position and did talk to some people–some that I knew, others that I didn’t know. There were firecrackers that were being thrown on the ground at Stopher Hall, and firecrackers going off in other parts of the area. And I’m saying that there were firecrackers because of the loud, short noise that they made and also seeing little patches of dust flying through the air as they were being thrown out of dormitory windows. The Guards were [unintelligible]. There was yelling from groups of students and the Guard. This was going on from the time that I arrived until the unfortunate incident of the shooting.

I–the next time that I became aware of time was at approximately a quarter till twelve until approximately 10 minutes till twelve when there seemed to be more people in the area. It seemed as though people were approaching from the area of the Student Union and there were things being chanted in opposition to the war, to end the war, slogans against the war and so forth. It was about possibly 12 o’clock when students began growing in numbers. It was apparent that there were many people, as myself, who were standing around as bystanders or people who were there to find out what the issues were, to listen to the discussion, listen to speakers, anything that was going to happen. Tear gas was being thrown by the National Guard in the area of The Commons. Where I was standing there, I knew it was being thrown. It could be smelled, but it wasn’t bad enough that I had to leave or take cover in a dorm or another such place.

I began to walk up at 12:05 it was–maybe it was 12:10–when a group of National Guardsmen began moving across The Commons at a group of students who were baiting them, yelling at them. The Guardsmen moved from the direction of the ROTC building towards Taylor Hall and it was at this time that I also began to move with the group, but I remained close to the dormitories–first Stopher Hall then behind what was once called the SSD Office.

I continued to move up to the hill staying close to the building and the Guard pushed the students back up the hill between Johnson and Taylor Hall. While doing so, there was a group of students that scattered in all directions. I would estimate possibly six students who had gotten behind the Guard. There were people who were throwing rocks. The rocks were coming from the group that was being pushed back and the Guard continued to push people back. Rocks were being thrown from the group of people standing about. Whether the rocks were being thrown directly at the Guard at this point or whether they were being thrown at the people being pushed back, I’d rather just, [it’s hard to comment?]. Once again, tear gas was used I believe somewhere near the base of the hill approaching Taylor Hall from the ROTC building.

I got up to the corner of Johnson Hall, the Johnson side of Taylor Hall, and stayed relatively close to the dormitory and from that time, I just watched what was taking place on The Commons and watched the Guards move the students back. Now, having obtained the zenith of the hill, the Taylor Hall hill, began pushing students down the other side which would be toward the service road, the parking gate at Taylor Hall, and toward Eastway Center. I would approximate that this was somewhere between 12:15 and 12:20 that I had gotten to my position at Johnson Hall. I noticed that the Guardsmen had gotten the students down the hill. They were being pelted with rocks.

[End of Tape 2]

[Beginning of Tape 3]

[Unknow Speaker]: The second continuation of Mike Lynch.

[Michael Lynch]: The Guardsmen were being pelted with rocks, and the students. The largest rock that I saw being thrown was the size of possibly a woman’s fist. There weren’t any spikes or anything such as that, that I saw. None of the students showed any signs of having any type of weapon other than what they were picking up from the ground. It was evident that some of the Guardsmen were putting their arms up near their heads to keep from being hit with the rocks that were being thrown. The Guardsmen had gone down the hill from Taylor Hall toward the old practice football field and Eastway Center and were down there confronting students that had come quite close to the Guardsmen. About half a dozen had gotten in behind the Guardsmen, but cleared the area out quite well. They had gotten down on their knees to–I believe to try and scare the students, intimidate them so that they wouldn’t continue their shouting of anti-Guard, anti-war slogans and throwing rocks.

It was at this time that the Guard, in unison, began moving up the hill again toward Taylor Hall. They were in a pretty close group and upon reaching almost the top of the hill quite near Taylor Hall, approximately two hundred-fifty to three hundred yards from the Johnson Hall corner where I was standing, the Guardsmen turned in unison and opened fire on the students. The volley lasted from approximately three to five seconds in length.

After the barrage of shots by the National Guard, there was a great deal of confusion in the area. The students were yelling and screaming. The Guardsmen were also confused. I stood at the corner and just looked around down the hill toward where the students had been fired upon and it was visible to me that there were five people laying quite still on the ground. As I moved a little bit toward Taylor Hall, at the Taylor Hall parking gate had a body lying near it with blood flowing freely from the head region. At that time, I presumed that the student was dead. I didn’t know who he was, it was a male. I looked about and saw the other people who had been killed or wounded. I was in somewhat of a state of shock and I was immobile and I began to shake and cry.

I just stayed in the position that I was until about 12:45 when I began to move back toward Van Deusen Hall. I could hear sirens, ambulances were coming onto campus. After the shooting, the group of Guardsmen who had done the shooting just seemed to go back toward The Commons. I did notice two or three Guardsmen go out and try to help or at least approach the body that was near the Taylor Hall parking gate. I didn’t know whether they came from the group that shot or from somewhere else. When I got to Van Deusen, all the Guards were standing out, preventing anyone from going onto The Commons. At that time, it was quite apparent that students who were not even involved in the confrontation were voicing a very strong opinion in opposition of the Guard being there and the Guard killing–or shooting the students. At approximately 12:50 to 12:55, I left the area and walked toward the [unintelligible].

I would just like to add that Sunday evening when I came back into Kent and was talking to the Guardsmen who were standing with me over on Morris Road, they expressed a feeling of fearfulness that the University School would be burned. The Guardsmen I did talk to told me they didn’t like being called into Kent and they really didn’t like being called to the University.

Also, that Monday of the shooting there was an army jeep going around with a bullhorn sometime around 12:10 or 12:15, sometime thereabouts, announcing that martial law was in effect and that the right to assembly was not permitted, which caused more people to become angered.

[End of Tape 3]


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