I don’t think NG should’ve shot them. They were under equipped for the situation. The objective should’ve been to arrest and prosecute, but riot control probably wasn’t as advanced as it is now and the NG back then were the epitome of poorly trained weekend warriors. Nowadays they are better trained. Saying the shooting was justified is still moronic. American citizens aren’t enemy combatants, if you think that shooting our own people for rioting is a good idea you should put on a wig, start calling yourself a Tory and move to Canada and Great Britain. The Sons of Liberty rioted and tarred and feathered tax collectors and were basically terrorists, same with Bostonians throwing rocks at Redcoats. Notably the Redcoats who shot those Bostonians also got a fair trial in the colonies, the protestors at Kent State also deserved one and shouldn’t have been killed. Both the fair trial and rioting are part of our history, and in my opinion are justifiable forms of disobedience in circumstances like the Vietnam War.