All Hell Broke Loose at Ohio State; Pro-Gaza Protests Continue

It's only been 54 years since the National Guard opened fire on a crowd of Vietnam protestors at Kent State, and yet here we are again, all across the United States, college campuses are being flooded with protestors and police, violently arresting professors and students for simply disagreeing with our own government.

People are still alive that vividly remember what happened at Kent State, and vowed to never let it happen again. But nearly on its anniversary (May 4th), many college campuses are seeing similar pushback from law enforcement. Ohio, in particular, has become a hot spot for these college campus protests and violent clashes with police.

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As the country's colleges collectively protest the war in Gaza, local and regional authorities have been called in to enforce calm - sometimes violently.

At nearby Ohio State, 36 people were arrested at a pro-Palestine event, and many are claiming they were treated violently by police.

More than two hundred people showed up to the protest at the South Oval on campus, and at one time, as police began arresting individuals, many students linked arms and formed a protective circle around what appeared to be all Muslim students, praying.

Many local accounts from people in the crowd claim police would arrest people as they fell on the ground, responding with "military-level force" against non-violent protestors.

Bystanders, and other students captured video of some of the most violent arrests made by police, which included throwing punches at some students, and dragging one of them down as she tried leave.

Before Police arrived, the only activity in the South Oval were chants for a ceasefire in Gaza, and for Israel to stop the bombing.

Meanwhile, universities around the country, including Indiana, Columbia, Wisconsin, UCLA, and USC, have seen increased numbers of protestors, and encampments on campus property. Some universities have even called in military snipers to sit on rooftops overseeing these college students. Two of the highest-profile being IU and Ohio State.

It's hard to believe this is all happening, after what happened at Kent State in 1970. A peaceful protest, escalated by the presence of the National Guard, who fired on a crowd of teenagers and young 20-somethings, killing four people - Allison Krause, Jeffery Glenn Miller, Sandra Lee Scheuer, and William Knox Schroeder.

It is the opinion of this author that we may be headed down another dangerous path in the U.S. when the safety and concerns of our own citizens - especially college students who have barely even experienced the real world - are being completely disregarded in the open, and no action is being taken to subdue the violence, which is mostly being perpetrated by the police forces encroaching on the protests.

How far have we fallen that the lives of our fellow citizens no longer bare any weight to great American conversation?

I just hope we don't end up with another situation like Kent State.