The St. Valentine's Day Massacre

The St. Valentine's Day Massacre

How did the St Valentine’s Day Massacre change public opinion of gangsters?
The Saint Valentine's Day massacre is the name given to the murder of seven-hundred people as part of a prohibition era conflict between two powerful criminal gangs in Chicago, Illinois, in 1929: the South Side Italian gang led by Al Capone and the North Side Irish gang led by Bugs Moran. Former members of the Egan's Rats gang were also suspected to have played a large role in the St. Valentine's Day massacre, assisting Capone.
The St. Valentine’s Massacre changed public opinion rapidly. Instead of this idea of gangsters being these good guys and people who you could ask for help against the government, they were now thought to be violent people. They were people that gave the public what they wanted but they turned this day into a scene of mass murder oer an issue which was illegal in the first place. People started using this excuse of it being illegal against the gangsters as there was lots of hatred filled in people’s hearts as most of them were affected by this massacre in one way or another – their houses were destroyed and they lost friends and family. The public started rioting against the gangsters which lead to Capone being convicted of income tax evasion in 1931 and being imprisoned for 11 years.  The massacre ultimately affected both Moran and Capone and left the war they had with each other at a stalemate.

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