Existing comment:
Nicola Sacco, 1891-1927:
Bartolomeo Vanzetti, 1888-1927:
On April 15, 1920, two gunmen took the payroll and killed the paymaster and guard of the Slater & Morrill shoe factory in South Braintree, Massachusetts. The police charged two Italian immigrants, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, members of a violent anarchist organization, with the crime. The district attorney denounced the defendants not only as murderers, but as foreign anarchists and atheists; some believe he even intimidated witnesses and falsified evidence. When the pair were found guilty and sentenced to die, many attributed the verdict to the "Red Scare," in which suspected radicals were arrested. Despite worldwide protests and eight motions for a new trial, both men were electrocuted. Historians disagree on whether these men were martyrs or were guilty.
A news photographer made his shot in the courtroom while the manacled pair awaited sentencing.
Unidentified artist, 1921 |