Kent State gun rally had effects both on and off campus

By Collin Cunningham and Andrea Gump

On Saturday, September 29, groups of both gun rights activists and concerned counter-protesters converged on Kent State’s Risman plaza to argue their opposing sides. When the walk concluded, there were hundreds of officers outfitted in riot gear, hundreds of angry or confused tweets and four arrests, all of which included charges of disorderly conduct.

 

“Before this happens, we go around to the local areas and businesses and tell them, hey, this is coming up, we need you to make things less available to the public, in case something happens like a riot or something like that,” explains Vance Voyles, an officer with KSUPD. While Voyles is referring mostly to drinking holidays, the fact that he compares the police’s warnings on Homecoming to their warnings on the date of the rally is something to consider.

The event, which was changed from a stationary rally to a gun walk eleven days prior, drew the attention of citizens across the county, as Kent once again became a hotbed of significant social issues. But, with their attention turned toward the plaza, many people don’t realize is how an occurrence like this affected the lives of people in town, or students themselves. For example, the Student Center and Library were closed that day.

 

“We got an email, and the email was from library administration,” says Troy Cherrington, an adjunct reference and instruction librarian at the Kent State Library. “They said we’re going to be closed, you can still come in if you have a key, but we recommend that you don’t. And then, a few hours later, we got an email that – I believe it was the Provost – said nobody should be in the building.”

 

This meant that everyone who was previously scheduled to work that day couldn’t come in, which might present problems for enrolled employees who have to get hours on the weekends because they have busy class schedules. Cherrington’s on a salary, so his pay isn’t affected, but what if he had an important project to get done before classes started again on Monday?

“It was very short notice,” he says. “But it always is when they have the rallies, because they’ve had them before and every time it’s been quite short notice that they were going to have them, but of course in the past the building wasn’t closed.”

During an occasion like this, closing campus facilities makes sense. After all, people tend to get rowdy when they’re in big groups, especially when half of them are carrying firearms and engaging in discussion about a deep-seated political talking point. According to Voyles, university police try to defuse situations, and are more worried about helping students than arresting them.

 

“They still have to take responsibility for their actions if they get caught drinking underage, but we tend to give them tickets and send them to their dorms, whereas Kent Police give them tickets and send them to jail,” he explains. “So, a little different.”

Whether it was the high police presence on campus or another factor, things remained relatively peaceful on the stretch of the Esplanade that the attendees and protesters travelled across. One of those four arrests included an additional charge of assault on a police officer, but there were no reported injuries.

Prior to the event, Gracey Lane boutique manager Jordan Flinn received a visit from the police, who informed her and her staff of what was going to happen.

“They kind of made it sound like it was going to be a very big event downtown,” Flinn says.

Flinn and the owner of Carnaby Street, the shop next door, discussed whether or not they should open on the Saturday after they were told about the rally. They both ended up opening.

“We both just put signs on our doors saying no weapons in this store,” Flinn explains. “I did have a couple customers come in who noticed the sign and they said thank you for putting the sign up, that makes me feel safer.”

Saturdays in downtown Kent usually come paired with a full agenda, and September 29 was no different. The Creativity Festival that was to be held that day was cancelled, with the stated reason being reduced participating from vendors

and artists. The annual event, put on by the University, offers art-based activities like painting, crafts and public performances.

“We have a lot of events in town that bring a lot of people to town, because we’ve worked hard to make this a destination for people,” says Lori Wemhoff, the executive director of the Kent Area Chamber of Commerce. “I think you’ll find, on any given day, weekday or weekend, you’ll find a lot of people that are not necessarily from Kent that come to Kent for one reason or another, whether it’s something on campus or the things that are available here in Kent now.”

Wemhoff’s sense of optimism is refreshing, while most have negative takes on the affair. She points to a different occurrence that did take place downtown that day: the Better Block Project on North Water Street. The purpose of the project is to rejuvenate the area of downtown that’s currently inhabited by the closed Star of the West mill.

“It was all closed off that Saturday and there were little pop up vendors and businesses that were there for the day and it generated a lot of positive while other things were going on at the same time,” says Wemhoff.

Even though September 29’s campus gun walk pitted two opposing sides of an issue against each other, it affected people throughout campus and town in small ways. 

Featured Image Credit: Kaitlin Bennett, Twitter