Joe Walsh Reflects on Kent State Shootings: 'We Are as Divided Now as We Were Then'

Joe Walsh was a student at Kent State 50 years ago when the Ohio National Guard opened fire on a student protest, killing four.

The experience traumatized him, leading him to quit school and abandon his English degree in pursuit of making music with his first group, the James Gang. He went on to solo success and joined the Eagles, but in a statement commemorating the massacre, he says that day still haunts him.

“Today is May 4th and it marks 50 years since the shooting at Kent State University,” he wrote, recalling the day when students voiced outrage that President Nixon wanted to invade Cambodia as an extension of the Vietnam War. “Those of us who were there remember that day graphically, when our classmates, our friends, got shot down. We were naïve young people who had left our parents’ nest and were just starting our lives by going to college and furthering our education. And we were peacefully demonstrating but because of a total dysfunctional authority trying to handle a situation they didn’t understand, it mutated into elevated emotions and anger, chaos and fear escalated into violence.

“It was a long time ago but the reason it is so important and should be remembered is because history repeats itself — and we are as divided as a country now as we were then — and people demonstrating have no chance against people with guns,” Walsh continued. “The solution then, as it is now, is to be able to peacefully assemble and understand each other and accept our differences, without fear, without hatred, without violence.”

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https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/joe-walsh-kent-state-remembered-993480/