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Which soldiers were indicted after the Kent State shootings and what charges did they face?
Executive summary
Federal and state grand juries after the May 4, 1970 Kent State shootings produced indictments of both students and National Guardsmen: a Portage County grand jury indicted 25 people (mostly students) on state charges in October 1970, while a later federal grand jury returned indictments against nine Ohio National Guardsmen (eight former members and one active) on civil‑rights counts; a 1974 federal criminal trial of eight guardsmen was dismissed by the judge [1] [2] [3]. Sources disagree in emphasis about who was held accountable: local indictments targeted students and not guardsmen [1], while the Justice Department later pursued guardsmen in federal court [1] [3].
1. What the Portage County grand jury did — primarily state indictments of students
A special Portage County grand jury convened in mid‑1970 reviewed thousands of pages of testimony and on October 22, 1970 issued a report that led to 25 indictments, primarily against Kent State students (and one faculty member) on state charges including rioting, assault with deadly weapons and arson related to disturbances from May 1–4; that grand jury did not indict any Ohio National Guardsmen [1] [2].
2. The federal grand jury and indictments of Guardsmen on civil‑rights charges
A separate U.S. grand jury in Cleveland later returned indictments against nine Ohio National Guardsmen — described in coverage as eight former Guardsmen and one active member — charging violations of 18 U.S.C. § 242 (willfully depriving persons of constitutional rights under color of law). The federal action focused on whether guardsmen positioned in the firing line had willfully used excessive force against students [1] [2].
3. The 1974 criminal trial outcome and judicial dismissal
In the 1974 federal criminal prosecution of eight guardsmen, District Judge Frank Battisti dismissed the case at mid‑trial, concluding the government’s case was too weak to require the defense to present its case; contemporaneous reporting framed that dismissal as effectively ending the criminal accountability effort in federal court [3] [4].
4. Numbers and names: what is and isn’t consistently reported
Sources consistently report “25” state indictments from the Portage County grand jury and indictments of nine guardsmen at the federal level [2] [1]. Some modern summaries and local reporting mention eight guardsmen later tried criminally and the dismissal of their charges in 1974 [3] [5]. Specific lists of the named guardsmen in the federal indictments are not reproduced in every source excerpt provided here; available sources do not mention a comprehensive name list in the supplied snippets [1] [2].
5. How courts and juries later resolved responsibility
After the criminal dismissal, a separate 1975 federal civil trial yielded a jury verdict (9–3) that none of the Guardsmen were legally responsible for the shootings; ultimately, the wounded students and families accepted a $675,000 settlement paid by the state of Ohio [3] [5]. Reporting notes that prosecutorial and judicial outcomes left many families and civil‑liberties groups dissatisfied about criminal accountability [6] [3].
6. Competing perspectives and potential biases in the record
Local state proceedings shifted blame toward student protesters (25 state indictments) while later federal investigators pursued guardsmen on civil‑rights grounds — a split that reflects differing priorities: local authorities emphasized property and riot offences, whereas the federal government examined official use of force [1] [2]. Critics such as the ACLU have argued the government never fully acknowledged responsibility and that accountability was never achieved; other accounts note judicial findings that the government’s criminal case was weak [6] [3]. Reporters at the time questioned prosecutorial selections and possible local conflicts of interest in the Portage County investigation [4].
7. Why this matters today — legal and historical context
The sequence of indictments and dismissals shaped public memory: the Portage County indictments of students and the later federal indictments of guardsmen — followed by dismissal and a civil settlement — left unanswered legal and moral questions about command responsibility, the decision to arm troops with live rounds, and the adequacy of federal remedies for alleged constitutional violations [2] [3] [5].
Limitations and next steps: the supplied sources establish counts (25 state indictments; nine federal indictments; dismissal of the 1974 criminal trial of eight guardsmen) and outline outcomes, but do not provide a single, consistent list of every individual named in those indictments within the snippets provided; for full names, charge language, and indictment documents, consult the full grand jury reports, federal indictment texts, or detailed archival legal files cited by Kent State archives and the Justice Department [1] [3].