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 only 10 days after National Guardsmen killed four students in similar protests at Kent State University in Ohio, which first captured national attention.
Timeline
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.[2] By around 9:30 p.m. the students had started fires, thrown rocks at white motorists 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[3] 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., officers opened fire on the dormitory.[4] 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, though only two city policemen and one state patrolman reported minor injuries from flying glass[5] and an FBI search for evidence of sniper fire was negative.[6] The students say that the officers were not provoked by them. The gunfire lasted for 30 seconds and at least 140 shots were fired by a reported 40 state highway patrolmen using shotguns from 30 to 50 feet. Every window on the narrow side of the building facing Lynch Street was blown out.[5]
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 senior and miler[5] 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.
Aftermath
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, although the Commission did conclude "that the 28-second fusillade from police officers was an unreasonable, unjustified overreaction...A broad barrage of gunfire in response to reported and unconfirmed sniper fire is never warranted."[7]
The University has memorialized the tragic occurrence by naming the area of the shootings Gibbs-Green Plaza.[8][9] 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
- Orangeburg massacre
- Kent State shootings
- List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States
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.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126426361
- ^ The Report of the President's Commission on Campus Unrest, William W. Scranton, Chairman, US Government Printing Office, 1970, pg. 422-424. Retrieved August 15, 2009 from ERIC.ed.gov
- ^ Roy Reed, Special to The New York Times. F.B.I. Investigating Killing Of 2 Negroes in Jackson :Two Negro Students Are Killed In Clash With Police in Jackson. New York Times (1857-Current file) [serial online]. May 16, 1970:1. Available from: ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2006). Accessed August 14, 2009, Document ID: 80023683.
- ^ a b c Reed, NYT, 5/16/1970
- ^ Presidents Commission on Campus Unrest, pg. 442-444
- ^ Presidents Commission on Campus Unrest, p. 450
- ^ http://www.jsums.edu/gibbs.htm
- ^ http://www.may41970.com/Jackson%20State/jackson_state_may_1970.htm. Retrieved August 15, 2009
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 (Internet Archive; originally hosted at JSU.edu)
- 40 Years Ago: Police Kill Two Students at Jackson State in Mississippi - video report by Democracy Now!
\
Recent Comments