Tidbits - Feb. 13, 2020 - Reader Comments: Impeachment Not a Mistake; 2020 elections; Sanders, Warren Bloomberg; Voting Rights and Suppression; Economy is Bad; Plant Conversions; Socialists Can Govern; 50 Years: Kent State and Jackson State murders; more

Tidbits - Reader Comments, Resources, Announcements AND cartoons - Feb. 13, 2020,Portside

Re: Why Impeachment Was Not a Mistake (Jose Felipe Gonzalez Pabon; Sonia Collins)
Re: The Center Cannot Hold (Micheal Crockford; Jay Schaffner; Susan Ackoff-Ortega; Cat Zavis)
Lock Him Up -- cartoon by Bill Schorr
Re: An Oligarch Has Bought His Way Into the 2020 Race. Why is No One Talking About This? (Steve Goldsmith; Mike Miller; Scott Pearson; Hector Santiago; Vern Regevig; Hector Burgos; Hector Santiago; Alfonso Rodriguez; Albert Allen; James DeWindt)
Re: Culinary Union Suggests Sanders, Warren, Asking Union Members to Trade Health Plans for "Promises" (Gina Klein; Stephan Franciosi; Katina Mihelis; Susan Rosenthal; Robert Digman)
Elective Procesure -- cartoon by Stephan Pastis
Re: Gov. Kemp Loses Vote Purge Suit Brought by Reporter Palast (M Decime; Paul F. McCarthy)
Re: 150 Years Later: The Promise and Pitfalls of the Constitution’s 15th Amendment (Laura Lynch; Frank Emspak)
Re: Homer Plessy, Who Sat on a Train and Stood Up for Civil Rights (Dennis Tynan; David Wilson; Philip Specht; Miguel Angel Nazario)
Re: Trump Is a Brazen Liar About Social Security (Alicia Irene Ramírez; Richard Sentner Jr.)
Stockmarket in Nazi Germany - Wall Street Journal 1933
Re: Why the Economy Is Bad: The Great Affordability Crisis (William Leffingwell)
Re: Erasing History: The National Archives Is Destroying Records About Victims of Trump’s ICE Policies (James H. Williams; Robert Maldonado; Aida Rivera; Margaret Grimm; Diana Cordero)
Re: How Socialists Can Govern (Janet Bayer; Miriam Bensman; Denise Young)
Re: The Neighborhoods We Will Not Share (Gene Glickman)
Re: Realizing ‘Just Transitions’: The Struggle for Plant Conversion at GM Oshawa (Steve Meacham; Robert Price)
Re: Trump Is Blowing Up a National Monument in Arizona to Make Way for the Border Wall (Charles; Carmen Medina)
Re: The White House May Impose Classical Style on Federal Buildings (Eleanor Roosevelt)
Re: Israel as Palestine: One State Is Not the Solution, But It Is the Reality (Stan Nadel)
Re: The Difference Between Yams and Sweet Potatoes Is Structural Racism (Salvador Ochoa)

Resources:

May 4, 50th Commemoration - Kent State University
The Jackson State shootings, 1970 (libcom.org)

Announcements:

Webinar Briefing on Trump's Deal and What's Next for Palestinians - February 18 (Adalah Justice Project)
Video Screening - Martyr's of McCarthyism - Paul Robeson and Vito Marcantonio - New York - February 22 (Vito Marcantonio Forum)
New film 'WANTOKS: Dance of Resilience in Melanesia' by iara lee - New York - February 25 & 27 (Cultures Of Resistance Network)
The Poor People's Campaign, The Young Lords & Black, Brown, Red, Yellow & White Organizing - New York - May 7 (Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture)

Today in History:

February 13, 1937: Founding of Southern Negro Youth Congress (Zinn Education Project)

Re: Why Impeachment Was Not a Mistake

Of course impeachment is and was not time lost, particularly in a case like Trump. The outcome of proceedings was expected and not surprising. But, in terms of the meaning and implications, impeachment was not only justified, it met all criteria of a bona fide ethical inquiry into a corrupt, delinquent government official who has characterized himself not only by a pattern of continuous transgression of constitutional order but of minimal human decency. Impeachment exposed, publicly, Trump's real nakedness as well as those coward and bought senators lacking in moral fortitude and willing to be judged severely for the rest of their lives. Those senators, with the exception of Romney who can definitely sleep well, will be remembered as trash supporting garbage.

Jose Felipe Gonzalez Pabon
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

=====

After reading the article I still think that impeachment was a waste of time and absolutely doomed to failure. Better to spend the time and effort registering voters and getting out the vote.

Sonia Collins
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: The Center Cannot Hold

“If he won the nomination, I think obviously he would take over the party,” Professor Kazin said. “When you get the nomination, you usually get to name a new chair of the D.N.C., for example. And every congressional candidate would either have to get on board with his politics, more or less, or at least make peace with him.” A Sanders White House would likely also produce much less demand for the center-left policymaking institutions that dominate Washington.

“That’s the change, I think, that would be quite radical and amazing,” Mr. Sanders’s campaign manager, Faiz Shakir, told me over a recent lunch. “You’d have to compel and force institutional structures to start to bend to an agenda that they have long forgotten or discarded.”

He added, “We’d have to have people doing analyses of Medicare for All, what the benefits of cost savings would be for families — things that could have and should have been done, but haven’t really ever been done on a sophisticated major national scale.”

Micheal Crockford
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

=====

New York Times gives coverage to the Sanders campaign, and the movement that is being propelled.

Jay Schaffner
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

=====

Finally a New York Times commentary that pro Bernie! Hallelujah!

Susan Ackoff-Ortega
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

=====

wow - they never have anything decent or positive to say about Bernie.

Cat Zavis
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Lock Him Up -- cartoon by Bill Schorr

Bill Schorr
December 22, 2016

Re: An Oligarch Has Bought His Way Into the 2020 Race. Why is No One Talking About This?

1. What is your definition of oligarch?

2. If Bloomberg will take the pledge as all the candidates have to support the eventual nominee whether it's themselves or someone else, why would we shun him and all that money. If Bloomberg and Styer will put their money behind the other candidates which ever one wins, then we have a serious chance of defeating trump. Bloomberg's presence makes the discussion of criminal justice much more robust.

We need the people who like Bloomberg to support whoever the nominee is in order to defeat trump. That's the uniting principal and I would throw in winning a majority in the Senate as a coequal objective.

Steve Goldsmith

=====

Here's what I think these criticisms of Bloomberg miss: many people who voted for Trump, and many people who don't vote at all, think and have thought for some time that "our democracy" is a "joke". The vote for one thing and get another because, as they understand at some level, the "elites"/corporations/1%/big money/etc buy the politicians. What Bloomberg offers is someone who can't be bought because he has more money of his own than he needs to run his campaign. He's beholden to no one except himself.

Mike Miller

=====

if Biden, and maybe Klobuchar fade, the DNC will throw in with Bloomberg. this is not a good thing...

Scott Pearson
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

=====

He is the only one with a chance. Unfortunately, for the US the election to the Presidency has become a billionaire's game. Those requesting donations can step a side, they have no chance.

Hector Santiago
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

=====

Yes, but he's spending his own money not Russian money

Vern Regevig
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

=====

Tom Pérez is the worse President of the Democratic party in the last 12 years. James Carville, one of the chief architects of Bill Clinton's wins in 1992 and 1996 has asked for his immediate resignation. The Democrats are headed to a divided convention( Brokered) , if Pérez , could not supervise the Iowa caucus imagine a Brokered convention. Trump is doing everything to loose the election , the Democrats everything not to win it.

Hector Burgos
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

=====

He is the only one with a chance. Unfortunately, for the US the election to the Presidency has become a billionaire's game. Those requesting donations can step a side, they have no chance.

Hector Santiago
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

=====

Please. This is to give Trump’s acolytes and Citizens United a taste of their own medicine, only by a guy who believes in protecting the environment and gun control.

Alfonso Rodriguez
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

=====

The Republicans Party and Their Hopes for Donald Trump becoming President Again...Will be Ambushed by a Million Man March this year at the Polls...Black People gonna go out and Vote and this Election won't even be Close...

Albert Allen
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

=====

I guess that it is only fitting. Trump used to be a big Democratic donor before he switched parties and i believe that Bloomberg ran as Republican when he ran for Mayor. It would be a twist of irony if they faced off.

James DeWindt
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: Culinary Union Suggests Sanders, Warren, Asking Union Members to Trade Health Plans for "Promises"

(posting on Portside Labor)

To get their support for M4A, the $ savings to the employers must pass through to union members rather than benefit the employers. Those members gave up something to get their medical benefits and, therefore, perceive that they are losers if there is a switch to M4A.

Gina Klein
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

=====

Tell them that (1) whatever they have isn't better than med4all, and (2) when healthcare is off the table they can negotiate for higher wages.

Stephan Franciosi
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

=====

I got mine, F*** the millions without, should be their motto.

Katina Mihelis
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

=====

Unions with work-provided medical coverage that would be replaced by a medicare-for-all program could demand a) that any government medicare program be at least as good as the best plans currently on offer, and b) that the money employers invest in work-place medical insurance be returned to the workers in the form of increased pay or additional benefits.

Susan Rosenthal

=====

Medical care for all is insurance , it wouldn’t be a negotiation for your union or employer, hence the monetary allocation for wages , vacations and retirement plans would absorb the Money spent on your heath care plans. Your not losing insurance. I’ve been involved in negotiations if a company is going to pay $45 hr for labor cost it doesn’t really care how you or your union spends it. They want a set labor costs. If you know you and your family will have medical insurance provided then why negotiate it as part as your compensation?
It’s not the millions without it’s the billions that we pay Or work for that goes into the health insurance medical industry that we see no or little care and usually not the level of care needed.
I’ve worked both sides mgt and labor. Don’t believe the propaganda vote for your self benefit, but just understand why they tell you not to vote for someone. Good luck good life!

Robert Digman
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Elective Procesure -- cartoon by Stephan Pastis

Stephan Pastis
August 24, 2018
Pearls Before Swine

Re: Gov. Kemp Loses Vote Purge Suit Brought by Reporter Palast

Now that's the way to celebrate Black History Month and live Kwanzaaly.

Thank you Greg Palast, Hellen Butler, Lawyers; Brian Spears, of ATL and our own Jeanñe Mirer, of Nueva York and the truly Honorable Federal Judge Eleanor Ross, especially in a time of ill fated, trump termite judges destabilizing democracy one legislative gavel at a time.

Wanting some of this investigative power to unlock the hyper development, gentrification on steroids here in New Rochelle NY, a suburb of NYC, of about 80,000 people and we have 30 high rise going up by end of year, when before our tallest building had been, only 7 stories high.

M Decime

=====

Finally, a judge in the South who gets it.

Paul F. McCarthy

Re: 150 Years Later: The Promise and Pitfalls of the Constitution’s 15th Amendment

Feb 3rd marked the 150th anniversary of the ratification of the 15th Amendment, which was adopted to give Black people access to the ballot ... We can honor the amendment by fighting to keep its promise ... Reconstruction ended in 1876. From then until the 1960s, the majority of America’s Black population was prevented from voting, as states manufactured “legal” ways to suppress their registration and turnout without violating the #15thAmendment. For nearly a century, #JimCrow flourished in the South, where most African Americans lived. This only changed with the rise of civil rights movement, which achieved a string of historic victories that included the enactment of the #VotingRightsActVRA

Laura Lynch
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

=====

Likewise- for this subject- voter suppression. There is a direct link between Walker and his efforts and the Supreme Court decision cited here.

Frank Emspak

Re: Homer Plessy, Who Sat on a Train and Stood Up for Civil Rights

Fascinating story of an important figure in our country’s movement towards racial justice. Would love for him to have lived for Brown v Bd of Ed.

Dennis Tynan
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

=====

Thanks for posting this article about Homer Plessy, the activist plaintiff in Plessy v. Ferguson. It's worth noting that Justice Harlan's legacy is more complicated than the article indicates. He voted against racist practices in this decision but took the opposite position two years later in US v. Wong Kim Ark. The majority upheld birthright citizenship for a Chinese-American man, basing their decision on the 14th Amendment. Harlan joined the dissent.

In a lecture at the time , he told law students that the Chinese were "a race utterly foreign to us and never will assimilate with us" and that without the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the Chinese "would have rooted out the American population" in the US West.

David Wilson

=====

The Supreme Court case that gave the seal of approval to "separate but equal" for many years.

Philip Specht
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

=====

What an uplifting story! There must be many more like this one that have been neglected by history.

Miguel Angel Nazario
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: Trump Is a Brazen Liar About Social Security

We paid for social security, it is not an entitlement!

Alicia Irene Ramírez
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

=====

I just hope that the working class voters in the handful of blue states that handed Trump his 2016 victory are paying attention. He has every intention of coming after you as he tilts his allegiance ever more to the billionaire class. He is not your friend, and he thinks you are all patsies for his lies about helping the working class. Wake up. Does any of the nonsense coming out of his mouth pass the smell test?
This is a president who reads nothing and knows nothing, but who is counting on the working class to turn a deaf ear to truth that is right in front of us.

It is true that the Democratic Party has walked away from the working class but there are two or three candidates running for the presidency who care about you and want to support you if they can survive their own party's attempts top bring them down. Don't be fooled by any of this. If you keep a clear head and pay attention to both what is being said and the history of the candidates, you'll quickly realize who your real friends are. It isn't Trump and it isn't the "moderates" who run the Democratic party or those they have anointed with actions legal and illegal to stop the democratic left from succeeding. They and Trump are merely opposite sides of the same coin.

Richard Sentner Jr.
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Stockmarket in Nazi Germany - Wall Street Journal 1933

Re: Why the Economy Is Bad: The Great Affordability Crisis

And the Trumpmobile keeps on rolling, bragging on what he did for the economy.

William Leffingwell
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: Erasing History: The National Archives Is Destroying Records About Victims of Trump’s ICE Policies

Down Orwell's Memory Hole.

James H. Williams
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

=====

With this Presidency... anything goes, its the New face of the Ugly American !!

Robert Maldonado
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

=====

The government is aware of what they are doing... trying to alter history as what to Trump is concerned. Only purpose in all of these altering of photographs : trying to put Trump in a better light for history... they know that what will be said of him will not be good. Worst president ever...

Aida Rivera
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

=====

Creating a false view of history, he needs voted out, before we are in complete shambles

Margaret Grimm
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

=====

He is building his dictatorship with the help of the Republican Congress

Diana Cordero
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: How Socialists Can Govern

I had the honor of working for the Hatcher Administration. What we accomplished was amazing. It gave me strength and faith in the people.

Janet Bayer
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

=====

Exceptionally smart and thought-provoking. A keeper worthy of close reading and discussion

Miriam Bensman
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

=====

Friends - this is a very important and instructive article. Worth your time and reflection. Suggest using as an internal discussion piece for several groups - you know who you are!

Denise Young
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: The Neighborhoods We Will Not Share

It’s hard to believe that in this day and age an article in the New York Times that so carefully explores housing segregation throughout the United States would avoid using the word “redlining,” as if that word were some sort of curse word.

Redlining was a federal policy instituted by the Roosevelt Administration (Is that why? Because Roosevelt is deified in some circles?) which mandated that one black family living in a neighborhood would be enough to prevent banks from issuing mortgages to any potential home-buyers (black or white) in that neighborhood.

This redlining policy reminds me of the "one-drop theory" of racial determination prevalent during the Jim Crow era.

Gene Glickman

Re: Realizing ‘Just Transitions’: The Struggle for Plant Conversion at GM Oshawa

(posting on Portside Labor)

Great article. I worked in Quincy Shipyard (south of Boston) for 9 years until it closed in 1986. The effort to oppose the closure focused on "economic conversion". At the time there was an international movement around conversion, including an international shipyard workers movement. It got significant attention including major local op-ed pieces and a talk at the UN.

This was partly designed to bridge the gap between the jobs concerns of the workers and the anti-war movement. Conversion was the place those two movements could align. As is the case in Oshawa with General Motors, General Dynamics (owner of Quincy yard) refused to consider alternative products, and the movement in response raised issues of economic democracy and who had the right to decide.

Steve Meacham

=====

What about the G.M. plant in White Marsh Maryland? There are no, plans and it is closed.

Robert Price

Re: Trump Is Blowing Up a National Monument in Arizona to Make Way for the Border Wall

I've actually been to Organ Pipe, a spectacularly unique and beautiful place to be. It's easy to understand why this became a UNESCO biosphere site, and a national monument to be protected and preserved.

Though this is an occurrence to make note of, it somewhat pales in comparison to the larger implications of the DHS newly established authority to get around virtually any "obstruction" to building walls or anything else that can be designated as crucial security related developments.

It doesn't take rocket science to see how far this interpretation can be stretched to allow an "anything goes" development agenda, as long as it can be somehow correlated with purported security issues.

This is not a direction to be going towards . . .

Charles
Sebastopol, CA

=====

Crime!

Carmen Medina
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: The White House May Impose Classical Style on Federal Buildings

Here y'go, President Nero. Here's your fiddle.

Eleanor Roosevelt
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: Israel as Palestine: One State Is Not the Solution, But It Is the Reality

What Lustik advocates here would require a total transformation of the Palestinian positions--virtually no Palestinian organization now advocates a struggle for equal rights in Israel and most advocate the elimination of Israel sooner or later. If Palestinians were to adopt Lustik's position it would be a revolutionary development and could be a real move towards peace and away from killing. Unfortunately that's about as likely as the settlers turning around and advocating the same thing.

Stan Nadel

Re: The Difference Between Yams and Sweet Potatoes Is Structural Racism

(posting on Portside Culture)

I kept waiting for the structural racism that was mentioned in the headline, it was only approached tangentially. The confusion seems more from marketing than institutional racism.

Salvador Ochoa
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

May 4, 50th Commemoration - Kent State University

Beginning in the fall of 2019 and continuing through May 4, 2020, Kent State University will observe the 50th commemoration of the tragic events that occurred on May 4, 1970. The impact of those events continues to affect and influence generations nearly 50 years later.

At Kent State University, we are already hard at work on the planning of this historic and solemn occasion. As project manager for this event, my goal is to make the 50th commemoration a very significant and unique experience that will touch all generations.

The commemoration in 2020 will be more than just a look back at the events of that fateful and historic day. It will be a year-long observance with a series of special programs and educational opportunities. In addition to this website, I invite you to visit our 50th Commemoration Facebook page for continued updates and information.

Kent State University has a lasting commitment to remember and honor the individuals who lost their lives or were wounded on that day in 1970. We are equally committed to inspire future generations to provide strong, positive and peaceful leadership in times of conflict and dissent.

Event Schedule

Our current schedule of events for the year-long observance of the 50th commemoration of May 4, 1970 are here. Be sure to check this page often and our Facebook page for updates. Please note: Events on this page are subject to change.

REMEMBERING THE MAY 4 MEMORIAL PROCESS

Sunday, May 3, 2020 - 4:30pm to 6:00pm

PRESIDENTIAL SPEAKER SERIES FEATURING JANE FONDA

Sunday, May 3, 2020 - 7:30pm to 8:30pm

50TH COMMEMORATION CANDLELIGHT VIGIL

Sunday, May 3, 2020 - 11:00pm to Monday, May 4, 2020 - 12:00pm

50TH COMMEMORATION CEREMONY

Monday, May 4, 2020 - 12:00pm to 2:30pm

The yearlong 50th commemoration of May 4, 1970, culminates in this meaningful ceremony honoring and remembering lives lost and forever changed. This program connects the past to the present, paying homage to the May 4 legacy and including reflections; special recognitions; tributes to fallen students Allison Krause, Jeffrey Miller, Sandra Scheuer and William Schroeder; the reading of the chronology; music; and a symbolic moment of reflection at 12:24 p.m., the exact time at which the shootings occurred. Keynote speaker is Laurence H. Tribe, the Carl M. Loeb University Professor and Professor of Constitutional Law at Harvard University, and one of the foremost scholars of constitutional law.

“THE WAR AT HOME” SCREENING
Sunday, May 3, 2020 - 11:30am to 1:00pm

THE EVOLUTION OF THE MAY 4 TASK FORCE
Sunday, May 3, 2020 - 2:00pm to 3:30pm

The history and legacy of the events of May 4, 1970, would not have been kept alive for 50 years were it not for a committed group of students called the May 4 Task Force. Since its inception in the mid 1970’s, this organization has helped to educate students, organize annual commemorations, gather support for a memorial and advocate for family members of those were killed and wounded students. This panel honors the legacy of the May 4 Task Force as five former student leaders discuss its history and transformation over five decades.

May 4, 50th Commemoration
Street Address
800 E. Summit St. Kent, OH 44242
Mailing Address
PO Box 5190
Kent, OH 44242-0001

The Jackson State shootings, 1970

A short account of the shooting of several black students and bystanders by police on the night of May 14/15, 1970.

In the Spring of 1970, campus communities across this country were characterized by a chorus of protests and demonstrations. The issues were the escalation of the war in Vietnam and the U.S. invasion of Cambodia; the ecology; racism and repression; and the inclusion of the experiences of women and minorities in the educational system. No institution of higher education was left untouched by confrontations and continuous calls for change.

At Jackson State College in Jackson, Mississippi, there was the added issue of historical racial intimidation and harassment by white motorists traveling Lynch Street, a major thoroughfare that divided the campus and linked west Jackson to downtown.

On May 14-15, 1970, Jackson State students were protesting these issues as well as the May 4, 1970 tragedy at Kent State University in Ohio. Four Kent State students -- Alison Krause, Sandra Scheuer, Jeffrey Glenn Miller and William K. Schroeder -- were killed by Ohio National Guardsmen.

According to reports, the riot began around 9:30 p.m., May 14, when rumors were spread that Fayette, Mississippi mayor Charles Evers (brother of slain Civil Rights activist Medgar Evers) and his wife had been shot and killed. Upon hearing this rumor, a small group of students rioted.

That night, several white motorists had called the Jackson Police Department to complain that a group of blacks threw rocks at them as they passed along the stretch of Lynch Street that bisected the campus. The rock throwing was later attributed by witnesses to a group of non- students.

The rioting students set several fires and overturned a dump truck that had been left on campus overnight at a sewer line construction site. Jackson firefighters dispatched to the blaze met a hostile crowd that harangued them as they worked to contain the fire. Fearing for their safety, the firemen requested police back-up.

The police, who later told the media that they had received reports of gunfire in the area around the college up to an hour-and-a-half before they responded to the call, blocked off Lynch Street and cordoned off a 30 block area around the campus. National Guardsmen, still on alert from rioting the previous night, massed on the west end of Lynch Street. Mounted on Armored Personnel Carriers, the guardsmen had been issued weapons, but no ammunition.

Seventy-five city policemen and Mississippi State Police officers armed with carbines, submachine guns, shotguns, service revolvers and some personal weapons, responded to the call. Their combined armed presence on the Lynch Street side of Stewart Hall, a men's dormitory, staved off the crowd long enough for the firemen to extinguish the blaze and leave.After the firemen left, the police and state troopers marched along Lynch Street toward Alexander Center, a women's residence, weapons at the ready. No one seems to know why.

Falling back before the approaching officers, the students congregated in a thick not in front of the dormitory. At this point, the crowd numbered 75 to 100 people. Several students allegedly shouted "obscene catcalls" while others chanted and tossed bricks at the officers, who had closed to within 100 feet of the group.

The officers deployed into a line facing the students. Someone in the crowd either threw or dropped a bottle which shattered on the asphalt with a loud pop. At the same time, an officer fell, struck by a piece of thrown debris.

Accounts disagree as to what happened next. Some students said the police advanced in a line, warned them, then opened fire. Others said the police abruptly opened fire on the crowd and the dormitory. Other witnesses reported that the students were under the control of a campus security officer when the police opened fire. Police claimed they spotted a powder flare in the Alexander West Hall third floor stairwell window and opened fire in self-defense on the dormitory only. Two local television news reporters present at the shooting agreed that a shot was fired, but were uncertain of the direction. A radio reporter claimed to have seen an arm and a pistol extending from a dormitory window.

Whatever actually occurred, the police opened fire at approximately 12:05 a.m., May 15, and continued firing for more than 30 seconds. The students scattered, some running for the trees in front of the library, but most scrambling for the Alexander Hall west end door.

Portside