It's a bit of a miracle that the fallout from the Kent State massacre wasn't bigger [View all]

Yes, the death toll was only four people--and we seem to have mass shootings with that type of casualty count at least every month these days--but it was four unarmed protesters. Shot dead by members of the military.

While I know there was instant reaction during the time, I'm a bit surprised it wasn't more significant and didn't lead to more escalating civil unrest. Consider that we all learned that one of the precipitating events of the American Revolution was the 1770 Boston Massacre, which had a death toll of 5.

For anyone who was around at the time, is there any explanation how public reaction to the shootings was more or less contained to a peaceful one?

I was not alive when the Kent State massacre took place. I do remember watching the Vietnam documentary by Ken Burns a few years back and sitting in stunned silence as they described the events that occurred, followed by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young's "Ohio" playing over the end credits.

I worry we are working ourselves up to another similar deadly confrontation in Chicago, Portland or some other location, and I fear the fallout to that will somehow be much, much worse.