Urban Outfitters Pulls Bloody Kent State Sweatshirt

The trend-chasing retailer has apologized for selling a “vintage” Kent State sweatshirt, but insists the red splotches that look remarkably like bloodstains were not meant to allude to the 1970 national guard shooting.

Meant to sell for $129, the sweatshirt appears faded and splattered with red dye. After Kent State University, survivors of the massacre and Internet bystanders expressed their disdain over Urban Outfitters’ stunning lack of decency, the company decided not to sell the item and pulled it from its website.

In a statement, the retail chain said, “It was never our intention to allude to the tragic events that took place at Kent State.”

Really?

For those who weren’t alive at the time and are a bit fuzzy on their history, in 1970 the National Guard opened fire on student protesters at Kent State University in Ohio. Four students were killed and nine were injured. It was an event that galvanized support for the antiwar and free speech movements.

— Posted by Peter Z. Scheer