KENT, Ohio, May 9 (UPI) -- Activists and survivors of the 1970 shooting deaths at Ohio's Kent State University are urging the Justice Department to review newly developed audio evidence.
A previously unknown audio tape of the shootings analyzed by The Cleveland Plain Dealer last year contains what two forensic experts say sounds like an order to Ohio National Guardsmen to open fire, as well as a violent scuffle and four pistol shots before the volley.
Four students were killed on the campus May 4, 1970.
Shooting survivor Alan Canfora and his legal advisers met with Justice Department officials in Cleveland last fall and requested a reopened federal investigation.
On the tape, recorded from a dorm room, the word "Guard!" can be heard at 9.3 seconds. "All right, prepare to fire" begins at 19.5 seconds. "Get down!" is spoken at 22.3 seconds. The final "Guard!" is at 23.7 seconds, and the gunshots begin at 26 seconds.
The Civil Rights Division's response to a Freedom of Information Act request by William Gordon, author of "Four Dead in Ohio," shows officials have produced no reports, memos, analyses or other documents on the new tape evidence.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, initiated a congressional inquiry but his subcommittee was abolished when Republicans took over Congress after the 2010 election.
