University of New Mexico bayoneting incident

Vietnam War During the Vietnam War in the late 1960s and early 1970s, many college students across the United States participated in anti-war demonstrations and protests. Nixon's efforts to win the election and re-election focused on the promise of ending the war without true desire to actually cease military operations in Vietnam. Invasion of Cambodia – college protests, and Kent State incident On April 30, 1970, Nixon launched US troops into Cambodia. For those who hoped that Nixon was tapering off war efforts, this appeared to be a strong escalation of military action that was moving the US further from peace. Nixon spoke about the invasion as a necessary evil to preserve democracy, freedom, and US power, which further reinforced the belief that he had no plans of ending the war any time soon. College students on many campuses reacted by going on strike. Within 10 days over 500 universities had gone on strike and more than 100,000 protesters had marched in Washington DC. On May 4, 1970, students at Kent State University gathered to protest the invasion of Cambodia and the Vietnam War. This only increased student activism as students began protesting about the Vietnam War, the invasion of Cambodia, and the Kent State shooting, leading to the largest college student strike in the history of the United States. University of New Mexico The Kent State incident sparked many protests on college campuses throughout the entire United States, including at the University of New Mexico. As students at UNM learned about the Kent State shooting they joined in those protests and strikes. == Timeline ==

May 4, 1970 On May 4, 1970, actress and anti-Vietnam War activist Jane Fonda visited students at the University of New Mexico. Fonda encouraged students to engage in "non-violent and vigorous protest of Nixon's Cambodia policies." During Fonda's speech, students began planning a strike that was set to begin early on May 6, and created a list of demands for University President Ferrel Heady. After the speech, Fonda and about 150 students proceeded to march to Heady's home where they delivered their demands and protested late into the night. Following the protest, student body president Eric Nelson and The Daily Lobo editor Michael Blake formally encouraged students to participate in a strike with the purpose of protesting Nixon's invasion in Cambodia and the violent Kent State shooting that had happened earlier that day. The students adopted the theme "They Shoot Students, Don't They?" for the strike, a play on words reference to Fonda's star role in the 1969 film ''They Shoot Horses, Don't They?'' May 5, 1970 In response to and in mourning of the Kent State shooting, the US flag on UNM campus was lowered to half staff. Around 12 pm, several hundred students gathered around the flag pole and debated whether or not the flag should be flown at half staff or raised to full staff. The debate lasted well into the afternoon with the flag being raised and lowered throughout the day until campus officials removed the flag at about 5 pm. The group, which had been planning strike activities for the following day, decided that action was needed immediately despite pleas from student body president Eric Nelson to continue preparations for the strike until the following day. Concerned about the occupation, New Mexico Governor David Cargo spoke with President Heady at some point during the night to discuss the potential need to send in the National Guard if the strike escalated. Donald Burge, an editor in the student run newspaper The Daily Lobo, published an editorial that would print the next morning calling for student participation in the strike and threatened that the strike was "the last nonviolent protest that can be made....If Nixon does decide that killing, and the rape of the countryside must continue, we are perfectly willing and perfectly capable to bring that violence and that rape home." May 6, 1970 At 7 am, Glen Anglese, a Vietnam War veteran and student at UNM, called police to report that protestors had raised a "strike or 'unity' banner depicting three upraised, clenched fists" to the flag pole where the US flag was usually flown. By 11 am that banner had been removed by the Albuquerque Fire Department and burned by students who wanted the US flag flown at full staff. Debates about flying the US flag from the previous day were reignited, this time escalating to fist fights. UNM student body president Eric Nelson and vice president Frank Lihn attempted to stop the fighting at around noon by removing the flag entirely. Later, Andy Lucero and a group of students raised the flag to full staff, claiming that campus police had approved the raising of the flag once again. The incident caused University President Ferrel Heady to consider closing the university campus due to the potential for more violence. They first met at the Student Union Building where student body president Eric Nelson spoke to students and reminded them "We must use peaceful means of communication without the bias of violence." The regents viewed this student occupation as being about more than simply student grievances related to Cambodia and the Vietnam War, it was also a battle of "student power versus regent power." Four people were injured, including Michael Montgomery who was thrown onto the vehicle and experienced head injuries. All four were taken to the hospital but released the same day. Stone fled from the scene but turned himself in later that night. This was proposed by student body president Eric Nelson, who said the company was a "major link in the nation's defense research." Although the order provided for the use of force to clear the building, the UNM Board of Regents did not request that the National Guard be sent, instead opting for campus and city police. During the march, students from Albuquerque High School appeared to initially join the march but instead began throwing rocks at protesters. Students did not resist arrest or retaliate in any way. Reports conflict about whether 10 or 11 people were injured in the incident. By 7 pm, the crowd had cleared and the Student Union Building was closed. The National Guard left campus at around midnight. == Injuries ==

10 or 11 people were injured during the incident including: • Bill Norlander, 26, a reporter for KOB-TV. In an interview 50 years after the incident, Norlander recalled "There were about six holes in the shirt I was wearing, but only one strike got me in the chest and another got me in the left arm." Norlander's chest injury was not deep. • Sonny Flowers, a student. Flowers had previously broken a leg and was on crutches, which he used to try and defend himself. He was pushed down. Steve Part recalled seeing "a guardsman strike [Flowers] in the chest with the butt of his rifle." • Steve Sullivan, 18, a student. Sullivan was stabbed in the arm, puncturing an artery, as he attempted to help Flowers. • Stephen (Steve) Part, 24, a journalism student. While tying a handkerchief on Sullivan's arm, Part was stabbed in the back, began to bleed out, and needed stitches. • Forrest Rutherford, a freshman student. Rutherford reported that while near the Fine Arts Building a guardsman "jabbed at me and got me in the arm....He never said a word to me." • Mary Borkless, a student photographer. Borkless was stabbed in the left arm while taking pictures. • John Dressman, 22, a teacher in Santa Fe. Dressman was stabbed in the upper torso and the back of the thigh. He spent two weeks recovering in the hospital from a punctured femoral artery. • Bill Swortwood, who was stabbed in the hip. • Garry Klein, a photographer for the Lobo and graduate student in History, was stabbed in the arm by a Guardsman with a bayonet, after refusing to hand over his camera. • And two or three other unknown individuals. == Aftermath ==

On May 9, 1970, a meeting consisting of the Board of Regents, President Heady, Governor Cargo, school administrators, and a group of students was held to discuss the incident. UNM faculty met May 11 and approved the plan. Under the "free university" program, students had the option of participating in classes designed to open free discussion about political and university issues that mattered to students. Later that afternoon, about 200 students gathered to condemn the State's deployment of the National Guard and voted 105–90 to call for the removal of President Heady from his position. The following day about 250 students protested at the Kirtland Air Force Base and police used tear gas to push them back, arresting an additional 43 protesters as well. Students continued to express their disdain about the Guard's involvement, citing feelings of betrayal and unsafety. Vigil again defended his actions, saying that "he would still call the National Guard to the University of New Mexico in the same circumstances." On May 20, 1970, Vigil released an intelligence briefing about the incident, claiming that after reviewing footage of the incident it was clear that protesters who had been injured had "in each case...approached the National Guard and provoked a confrontation." Guardsmen that had participated in the incident, other police officers, and Albuquerque media coverage all defended the National Guard and condemned student actions, though future regent Calvin Horn wrote that video evidence contradicted those accounts, providing "convincing evidence that there was no organized student plan for clashing with anyone." In the fall of 1970, six of the people who were injured during the incident sued the state of New Mexico but the case was dismissed after the prosecution failed to successfully place legal responsibility on the defendant. The week after the incident the 131 protesters that were arrested were charged with criminal trespassing, and 20 of those individuals were also charged with violation of court order. == References ==