* **Boston Massacre (1770):** While technically British soldiers, the event is a key precursor to the revolution and involved troops firing into a crowd of colonists, killing five.
* **The Whiskey Rebellion (1794):** President George Washington dispatched a federalized militia force to suppress a tax rebellion by frontiersmen in western Pennsylvania. Shots were exchanged, but casualties were low.
* **John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry (1859):** U.S. Marines, commanded by Colonel Robert E. Lee, stormed the firehouse where abolitionist John Brown and his followers had taken refuge after a failed slave rebellion. The Marines killed several of Brown’s men.
* **New York City Draft Riots (1863):** During the Civil War, federal troops and police brutally suppressed rioting in New York City in protest of new conscription laws. Hundreds of people died.
* **Haymarket affair (1886):** Following a bombing at a labor demonstration in Chicago, police fired on the workers. Though police are not federal military, the event highlights the use of armed force against civilians during labor unrest in the late 19th century.
* **Pullman Strike (1894):** Federal troops were sent in to break a national railroad strike, and soldiers fired on workers, killing dozens.
* **Ludlow Massacre (1914):** The Colorado National Guard fired machine guns into a tent colony of striking coal miners and their families, killing approximately 20 people, including women and children.
* **Bonus Army (1932):** During the Great Depression, President Herbert Hoover ordered the U.S. Army to clear out a camp of World War I veterans and their families who were protesting for early payment of bonuses. Troops under General Douglas MacArthur used cavalry, tanks, and tear gas, injuring many and killing at least two.
* **Manzanar (1942):** At the Manzanar Japanese internment camp during World War II, military police fired into a crowd of Japanese American protesters, killing two.
* **Battle of Athens (1946):** Returning World War II veterans in Athens, Tennessee, fought a gun battle against a corrupt local government and its police force. No one was killed in the exchange of fire, but the veterans successfully ousted the officials.
* **Jackson State:** Police and highway patrolmen fired on students at Jackson State College (now University) in Mississippi during an anti-war protest, killing two.
* **Waco Siege (1993):** Federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, engaged in a 51-day siege of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas. The standoff ended in a fire that killed 76 people, including many children. A military component of the National Guard was involved in a support role, and critics have questioned the tactics used.
oldaliumfarmer on
Burned in my mind. I was in high school.
BlackMarketCheese on
The more demonized and dehumanized through action and rhetoric they make the left, the easier it gets
SlippedMyDisco76 on
Hearing Gerald Casale from Devo describe being there and seeing his friends get shot, and then the country’s indifference after is chilling.
skintastegood on
All the rights we have. Even 40 hour work weeks were paid for on blood.
It is the common thing throughout history. In that sacrifice the next generation is written.
wakkadaka on
“And remember kids, the next time that somebody tells you, “The government wouldn’t do that,” oh yes they would.”
Emotional_Narwhal304 on
How fast we forget that Trump asked his then secretary of defense Mark Esper *why they cant just shoot protesters in the legs?* The question isn’t “would he give that order”? Its “will the military follow it”.
carrottop80 on
Troops have no experience, training, or authority to detain and arrest Americans.
All they can do is shoot.
Bringing them into these situations is deliberate.
I guess they can choose not to shoot, but tensions and stoking fears of “the enemy” and it is not if but when and how many dead.
Recalcitrant_Stoic on
Tin soldiers and Nixon coming –
We’re finally on our own –
This summer I hear the drumming. –
Four dead in Ohio
dragonfliesloveme on
“What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground”
Haunting lyrics from an event that actually happened on American soil, at an American university
10 Comments
Just a **few** times more:
* **Boston Massacre (1770):** While technically British soldiers, the event is a key precursor to the revolution and involved troops firing into a crowd of colonists, killing five.
* **The Whiskey Rebellion (1794):** President George Washington dispatched a federalized militia force to suppress a tax rebellion by frontiersmen in western Pennsylvania. Shots were exchanged, but casualties were low.
* **John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry (1859):** U.S. Marines, commanded by Colonel Robert E. Lee, stormed the firehouse where abolitionist John Brown and his followers had taken refuge after a failed slave rebellion. The Marines killed several of Brown’s men.
* **New York City Draft Riots (1863):** During the Civil War, federal troops and police brutally suppressed rioting in New York City in protest of new conscription laws. Hundreds of people died.
* **Haymarket affair (1886):** Following a bombing at a labor demonstration in Chicago, police fired on the workers. Though police are not federal military, the event highlights the use of armed force against civilians during labor unrest in the late 19th century.
* **Pullman Strike (1894):** Federal troops were sent in to break a national railroad strike, and soldiers fired on workers, killing dozens.
* **Ludlow Massacre (1914):** The Colorado National Guard fired machine guns into a tent colony of striking coal miners and their families, killing approximately 20 people, including women and children.
* **Bonus Army (1932):** During the Great Depression, President Herbert Hoover ordered the U.S. Army to clear out a camp of World War I veterans and their families who were protesting for early payment of bonuses. Troops under General Douglas MacArthur used cavalry, tanks, and tear gas, injuring many and killing at least two.
* **Manzanar (1942):** At the Manzanar Japanese internment camp during World War II, military police fired into a crowd of Japanese American protesters, killing two.
* **Battle of Athens (1946):** Returning World War II veterans in Athens, Tennessee, fought a gun battle against a corrupt local government and its police force. No one was killed in the exchange of fire, but the veterans successfully ousted the officials.
* **Jackson State:** Police and highway patrolmen fired on students at Jackson State College (now University) in Mississippi during an anti-war protest, killing two.
* **Waco Siege (1993):** Federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, engaged in a 51-day siege of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas. The standoff ended in a fire that killed 76 people, including many children. A military component of the National Guard was involved in a support role, and critics have questioned the tactics used.
Burned in my mind. I was in high school.
The more demonized and dehumanized through action and rhetoric they make the left, the easier it gets
Hearing Gerald Casale from Devo describe being there and seeing his friends get shot, and then the country’s indifference after is chilling.
All the rights we have. Even 40 hour work weeks were paid for on blood.
It is the common thing throughout history. In that sacrifice the next generation is written.
“And remember kids, the next time that somebody tells you, “The government wouldn’t do that,” oh yes they would.”
How fast we forget that Trump asked his then secretary of defense Mark Esper *why they cant just shoot protesters in the legs?* The question isn’t “would he give that order”? Its “will the military follow it”.
Troops have no experience, training, or authority to detain and arrest Americans.
All they can do is shoot.
Bringing them into these situations is deliberate.
I guess they can choose not to shoot, but tensions and stoking fears of “the enemy” and it is not if but when and how many dead.
Tin soldiers and Nixon coming –
We’re finally on our own –
This summer I hear the drumming. –
Four dead in Ohio
“What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground”
Haunting lyrics from an event that actually happened on American soil, at an American university
edit the song is Neil Young, “Four Dead in Ohio”