Miller had taken part in the protests that day and had thrown a tear gas canister back at the Ohio National Guardsmen who had originally fired it. The protests, initially against the expansion of the Vietnam War into Cambodia, had escalated into a protest against the presence of the Ohio National Guard on the Kent State campus."Kneeling With Death Haunted a Life". New York Times: May 6, 1990. Miller was unarmed when he was shot; he had been facing the Guardsmen while standing in an access road leading into the Prentice Hall parking lot at a distance of approximately .Jerry M. Lewis and Thomas R. Hensley. "The May 4 Shootings at Kent State University: The Search for Historical Accuracy; Kent State University A single bullet entered his open mouth and exited at the base of his posterior skull, killing him instantly. John Filo's Pulitzer Prize-winning photo features Mary Ann Vecchio, a 14-year-old runaway, kneeling over Miller's dead body.CNN Photographer John Filo discusses his famous Kent State photograph. Retrieved January 14, 2014.
