St. Valentine’s Day Massacre
St. Valentine's Day Massacre occurred on February 14th, 1929 when 7 members of the Irish North Side Gang, which was run by George “Bugs” Moran, were lined up against a wall at the Lincoln Park garage and then they were shot. Moran and Al Capone were in a fierce fight to gain control over the smuggling and trafficking of alcohol in Chicago. They both attempted to “get” one another multiple times and after Moran put a $50,000 bounty on Capone, Capone had had enough.
Moran was on his way to his headquarters where a delivery of whiskey was expected, however upon arriving Moran had noticed police officers entering and he decided to wait outside thinking it was a raid and that his men were being arrested. Moran would later find out that the police officers were not police officers and in fact they had murdered 7 of his men. When the actual police arrived on the scene there was one man still alive, Frank Gusenberg. He was questioned by the police as to who the shooters were but keeping to the “gangster code” he famously said, “No one, nobody shot me.” He later died in the hospital.
Moran blamed Capone and on the 7th anniversary of the bloody event Jack McGurn, who was believed to have been one of the police imposters, was killed in a bowling alley with a machine-gun. Many believed Moran was behind this killing but he was never charged. After losing some of his best men in the massacre, Moran lost much of his power and after some small robberies he was sent to jail in 1946. Moran died while in prison in 1957 at the age of 63.
Although Al Capone was largely believed to have orchestrated the massacre, he was never charged for it. Capone’s motive would have been the biggest, as he was making about $60 million a year and Moran was his competition. It was also known that Capone had been getting rid of his rivals by gunning them down. This gang violence at one point reached a high of 64 murders in one single year. Capone had an alibi and claimed to have been at his Florida home at the time but that did not mean he did not order the hit. No one was charged for the massacre and though it brought the end to any competition that Capone may have had it also is said to have brought his demise. He became known as “Public Enemy No. 1” and after failing to appear in court after being subpoenaed the FBI began to investigate him. Capone was arrested a few times, one of them in May of 1929 on charges of carrying a concealed weapon. He served 9 months in prison and was later released for his good behavior. In 1931 he was charged with contempt and sentenced to 6 months in a county jail for his previous failure to show up in court after being subpoenaed. During that time the U.S. Treasury Department had begun an investigation against Capone for tax evasion. He was indicted in July of 1931 and sentenced to 11 years in prison. He served his sentence in a prison in Atlanta and later at Alcatraz. He was released in 1939 and died in 1947 at the age of 48 at his Florida home.
This event along with other gang violence are usually associated with the Prohibition Era in Chicago.
Do you think Al Capone was behind the massacre? Let me know what you think in the comments.
Sources:
https://www.history.com/topics/crime/saint-valentines-day-massacre
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-st-valentines-day-massacre
https://www.britannica.com/event/Saint-Valentines-Day-Massacre
https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/chi-chicagodays-valentinesmassacre-story-story.html
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