Sacco and Vanzetti Case
On April 15, 1920, a paymaster for a shoe company in Massachusetts was murdered, as well as his guard. The perpetrators of the crime, described as two Italian men, escaped with more than $15,000. On May 5, 1920, Sacco and Vanzetti, two Italian anarchists, were arrested for the crime. Although both men were found with guns and told lies when they were arrested, the police had trouble linking them to the crime.
The trial of Sacco and Vanzetti happened during the Red Scare, when people everywhere were afraid of Communists and other radicals. This led many to believe that the arrest of Sacco and Vanzetti was very biased because they were both anarchists and being subjected to lots of unfair prejudice. The defense lawyer, Fred. H Moore, tried to turn Sacco and Vanzetti into typical working class people, hoping it would draw support from the masses. This seemed to work, as groups such as the New England Civil Liberties Union joined and lent their support to Sacco and Vanzetti’s defense. When the trial finally opened on May 31, 1921, it was heavily guarded by police, showing just how
During the trial, District Attorney Frederick Katzman used ballistics experts to demonstrate that the bullets fired were fired from Sacco’s gun. In addition, he provided evidence that Sacco was absent from work on that day, and he was wearing a cap that was left behind during the crime. However, the defense provided several witnesses saying that Sacco was elsewhere on the day of the crime. The cap however, was a difficulty for the defense. Katzman had a medical examiner confirm that the hairs from the cap matched Sacco’s hair.
The case against Vanzetti was a lot weaker. While there were many eyewitnesses who claimed to identify Sacco, none of them identified Vanzetti. Katzman built on the fact that the gun found on Vanzetti was the same type of gun that was stolen from the paymaster’s guard. In addition, Katzman emphasized that Vanzetti’s initial lies about his weapons suggested consciousness of guilt.
In addition to fighting to prove their innocence, there was lots of drama in the courtroom as Sacco and Vanzetti tried to promote their anarchist ideals. This certainly did not help their case, and on July 14, the Jury decided that Sacco and Vanzetti were both guilty. Many large protests incorporating working class people occured after this conviction, the largest being in France and Italy. A bomb would also explode in the American Embassy in France.
Despite several attempts at postponing the execution Sacco and Vanzetti would be executed in August,1927. Their deaths triggered widespread protests not just in America, but in Europe as well. A mob of 5,000 in Geneva all things American, and in Germany six were killed during the protests. Although it is unclear to this day whether or not Sacco and Vanzetti were actually guilty, the lack of solid evidence used in their conviction convinced many that they were a victim of nativism and prejudice against radicals.
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