Jackson State killings

The Jackson State killings occurred on May 14-15, 1970, at Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi. A group of student protesters were confronted by the police and National Guardsmen. The police opened fire killing two students and injuring twelve.

The causes of the riots are believed to be the Vietnam War, the May 4 Kent State shootings, and racial tensions. A mob of around a hundred black students had gathered on (John R.) Lynch Street following rumours of the murder of Charles Evers. By around 2130 hours 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. Units from Jackson and the Mississippi State Police, totalling around seventy, combined with a number of National Guardsmen with APCs to stand-off the crowd while the fires were dealt with. 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 campus dormitory.

Advancing to within 50-100 feet of the crowd, at roughly 0005 hours, the police opened fire. The exact cause of the shooting and the moments leading up to it is unclear. The crowd scattered, a number of people were trampled or cut by falling glass, some wounded, and Phillip Lafayette Gibbs (21) and James Earl Green (17) were killed. Gibbs was killed near to Alexander Hall by buckshot, while Green was killed behind the police line in front of B. F. Roberts Hall, again with a shotgun. The police fired in excess of 460 rounds of ammunition (FBI estimate) in less than a minute, leaving over 160 holes in the walls of Alexander Hall, they then took some time to gather their spent shell casing before withdrawing, leaving the scene in the hands of the National Guardsmen.

The Presidential Commission on Campus Unrest investigated this event and also held public hearing at Kent State, in Los Angeles, and Washington. There were no arrests in connection with the deaths at Jackson State.

External Link

• http://ccaix.jsums.edu/%7Ewww/gg02a.htm