The Kent State shooting gave rise to two competing narratives that oversimplified the motives and characters of the people involved, lacked nuance, and ignored ambiguity, complexity, unpredictability, confusion, chaos, and cruel pathos. One narrative depicted the shooting as lethal violence in the name of the state directed against those who sought to defy its writ. The other narrative depicted the shooting as law enforcement giving troublemakers the comeuppance they deserved.
