The man who started the killings at Kent State: the Myron Pryor lie detector test. Issue 1 (2nd January 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: O'Hara, John Fitzgerald
• Is Part Of: Sixties. Volume 9:Issue 1(2016)
• Page Start: 79
• Page End: 114
• Publication Date: 2016-01-02
• Subjects: Kent State -- 4 May 1970 -- 4 May shootings -- Myron Pryor -- Strubbe tape -- Vietnam War protest -- campus violence -- Ohio National Guard; Nineteen sixties -- Periodicals; Protest movements -- Periodicals; 909.826
• DOI: 10.1080/17541328.2016.1203199
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1754-1328

Abstract

Abstract: This article re-examines the role of Ohio National Guard Sergeant Myron Pryor in the Kent State/4 May 1970, shootings of students at Kent State University, Ohio. Pryor first came under suspicion as a key perpetrator of the shootings in the works of early Kent State conspiracy theorists, and subsequently in official investigations and prosecutions. Though he was not indicted, and is now deceased, Pryor remains a lightning rod in Kent State conspiracy theories, and is often portrayed in the context of guilt. Recently, Pryor's role has been rehashed after 4 May victim and activist Alan Canfora unveiled new audio evidence in 2010 pointing to Pryor as a possible catalyst in the shootings. By looking at countervailing evidence, including not-before-released evidence from the private files of Pryor's defense attorney, C. D. Lambros, the author calls into question Pryor's alleged role in the 4 May shootings, and argues for a careful reevaluation of evidence in assigning responsibility for the Kent State shootings to Pryor.