Jackson State killings: Difference between revisions
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The '''Jackson State killings''' occurred on Thursday/Friday May 14-15, 1970, at Jackson State College (now [[Jackson State University]]) in [[Jackson, Mississippi]]. A group of [[student protest]]ers were confronted by city and state police. The police opened fire, killing two students and injuring twelve.<ref>[http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-4642%28199002%2956%3A1%3C159%3ALSTM1S%3E2.0.CO%3B2-L Review of "Lynch Street: The May 1970 Slayings at Jackson State College"] (Tim Spofford) Review author: William M. Simpson, The Journal of Southern History, Vol. 56, No. 1. (Feb., 1990), pp. 159-160.</ref> This happened 10 days after National Guardsmen killed four students in [[Kent State shootings|similar protests at Kent State University]] in Ohio, which first captured national attention. |
The '''Jackson State killings''' occurred on Thursday/Friday May 14-15, 1970, at Jackson State College (now [[Jackson State University]]) in [[Jackson, Mississippi]]. A group of [[student protest]]ers were confronted by city and state police. The police opened fire, killing two students and injuring twelve.<ref>[http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-4642%28199002%2956%3A1%3C159%3ALSTM1S%3E2.0.CO%3B2-L Review of "Lynch Street: The May 1970 Slayings at Jackson State College"] (Tim Spofford) Review author: William M. Simpson, The Journal of Southern History, Vol. 56, No. 1. (Feb., 1990), pp. 159-160.</ref> This happened 10 days after National Guardsmen killed four students in [[Kent State shootings|similar protests at Kent State University]] in Ohio, which first captured national attention. |
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Revision as of 23:26, 17 June 2009
 | The neutrality of this article is disputed. |
| The neutrality of this article is disputed. |
The Jackson State killings occurred on Thursday/Friday May 14-15, 1970, at Jackson State College (now Jackson State University) in Jackson, Mississippi. A group of student protesters were confronted by city and state police. The police opened fire, killing two students and injuring twelve.[1] This happened 10 days after National Guardsmen killed four students in similar protests at Kent State University in Ohio, which first captured national attention.
A group of around a hundred African-American students had gathered on Lynch Street (which at the time bisected the campus) on the evening of Thursday, May 14. By around 9:30 p.m. the students had started fires and overturned vehicles, including a large truck. Firefighters dispatched to the scene quickly requested police support.
The police responded in force. At least 75 Jackson Police units from the city of Jackson and the Mississippi Highway Patrol[citation needed] attempted to control the crowd while the firemen extinguished the fires. After the firefighters had left the scene, shortly before midnight, the police moved to disperse the crowd now gathered in front of Alexander Hall, a women's on-campus dormitory.
Advancing to within 50 to 100 feet (15 to 30 m) of the crowd, at roughly 12:05 a.m., police opened fire. The exact cause of the shooting and the moments leading up to it are unclear. Authorities claim they saw a sniper on one of the building's upper floors, and were also being sniped in all directions, this despite the fact that no policemen were injured. The students say that the police were not provoked.
The crowd scattered and a number of people were trampled or cut by falling glass. Phillip Lafayette Gibbs, 21, a junior, and James Earl Green, 17, a student at nearby Jim Hill High School, were killed and twelve others were wounded. Gibbs was killed near Alexander Hall by buckshot, while Green was killed behind the police line in front of B. F. Roberts Hall, also with a shotgun.
The President's Commission on Campus Unrest investigated this event and also held public hearings at Kent State, in Los Angeles, and Washington. There were no arrests in connection with the deaths at Jackson State.
The University has memorialized the tragic occurrence by naming the area of the shootings Gibbs-Green Plaza.[2] The Plaza is a large, multi-level brick and concrete patio and mall on the eastern side of the JSU campus that blocks off J. R. Lynch Street and links Alexander Hall to the University Green. A large stone monument in front of Alexander Hall near the plaza also pays tribute to the two victims. Damage to the façade of Alexander Hall caused by rounds fired by the police is still visible.
See also
References
- ^ Review of "Lynch Street: The May 1970 Slayings at Jackson State College" (Tim Spofford) Review author: William M. Simpson, The Journal of Southern History, Vol. 56, No. 1. (Feb., 1990), pp. 159-160.
- ^ http://www.jsums.edu/gibbs.htm
External links
- Chronology with photos by Jackson University
- "Lynch Street: The May 1970 Slayings at Jackson State College" by Tim Spofford
- The Jackson State tragedy (Google cache)