Allison Krause

Allison Krause

Allison B. Krause (April 23, 1951 - May 4, 1970) was an honor student at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, when she was shot and killed by the Ohio Army National Guard in the Kent State shootings, while protesting the invasion of Cambodia and the presence of the National Guard on the Kent State campus. The Guardsmen opened fire on a group of unarmed students, killing four of them, at an average distance of about 345 ft (106m). Krause was shot in the left side of her body at about 330 ft (105m) fatally wounding her. A subsequent autopsy found that a single rifle bullet entered and exited her upper left arm, and entered her left lateral chest fragmenting on impact causing massive internal injuries. She died from her injuries later that same day.

Altogether, sixty-seven shots were fired by the Guardsmen in 13 seconds. The other students killed in the shootings were Jeffrey Glenn Miller, Sandra Lee Scheuer and William Knox Schroeder. In addition, nine other students were wounded in the gunfire.

Just days before Allison Krause was killed, she said "flowers are better than bullets."{From a eulogy given by Ms. Krause's boyfriend, Barry Levine}

The shootings led to protests and a national student strike, causing hundreds of campuses to close because of both violent and non-violent demonstrations. The Kent State campus remained closed for six weeks. Five days after the shootings, 100,000 people demonstrated in Washington, D.C. against the war.

Krause was an alumna of John F. Kennedy High School in Silver Spring, Maryland. There is a courtyard memorial dedicated to her there. Her father, Arthur S. Krause, became an outspoken advocate for the press for truth and justice about what occurred that day and fought it in the courts for nearly 10 years following the death of his daughter. In the end the family of Allison Krause received a 'Statement of Regret' and $15,000 for the loss of Allison.

In 2010, Allison's sister Laurel Krause co-founded the Kent State Truth Tribunal 'KSTT' with Emily Kunstler. The tribunal was organized to uncover, record and preserve the testimonies of witnesses, participants and meaningfully involved individuals of the Kent State shootings of 1970. Showing his support, Michael Moore livecast every KSTT testimonial at his website. In all, three tribunals were held in 2010: May 1, 2, 3 & 4 in Kent Ohio at the 40th anniversary of the shootings with a west coast tribunal in San Francisco in August and an east coast tribunal in New York City in October 2010.