Scranton commission report
Nixon issued this report to be made. It concluded that, while some of the students were dangerous, violent, and criminal, the random firing into the crowd was “unnecessary, unwarranted, and inexcusable,” (Scranton Commission Report). The commission decided that it was not justified for the students to have M-1 rifles, extremely dangerous weapons, because “the general issuance of loaded weapons to law enforcement officers engaged in controlling disorders is never justified except in the case of armed resistance that trained sniper teams are unable to handle,” (Scranton Commission Report). They placed the blame of the adversity on the Ohio National Guard, for “the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders and the guidelines of the Department of the Army set it out explicitly. No one would have died at Kent State if this lesson had been learned by the Ohio National Guard,” (Scranton Commission Report). 28 guardsmen shot 61 bullets, but no one claims to have given an order to fire. The shooting on Blanket Hill, where the troops fired from, was not controlled effectively or well enough. The report ended by saying that “the Kent State tragedy must mark the last time that, as a matter of course, loaded rifles are issued to guardsmen confronting student demonstrators,” (Scranton Commission Report).