[greedo]

Equating Kent State with Tiananmen Square is very disingenuous. While the loss of life at Kent State (4 killed and several wounded) was reprehensible, it pales in comparison to the thousands killed and wounded in Tiananmen Square.

[robotresearcher]

I didn't equate them. It was a counter example to the parent’s claim and nothing more.

[rayiner]

It's not even the same type of thing. When police react to violent protesters, there is the risk of people getting killed. Now, you can debate in any given situation whether enough was done to minimize risk--and that is exactly what happened after Kent State. A national commission declared it was unjustifiable to send guardsmen armed only with lethal weapons to control campus protests. But at bottom, the purpose of police is to use the State's monopoly on violence to maintain order, and that always carries the risk of people getting killed.

That is completely different from state-directed killings intended to suppress political dissent, which the government then covers up and nobody ever talks about.