Ferdinando Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were disciples of Luigi Galleani, an immigrant anarchist who supported the violent overthrow of the government through labor strikes, political agitation, and mass murder. Galleani had been deported because Italian anarchists were suspected in many bombing and assassination attempts. Thus, U.S. authorities were suspicious of any Italians voicing radical political beliefs.
In 1920, two men were murdered in a payroll robbery at a shoe factory in Massachusetts. To the authorities, this resembled similar crimes committed by anarchists to raise money for their cause. Police set a trap to catch four suspects, but two escaped. The other two were caught on a streetcar in Brockton, Massachusetts. They were Sacco and Vanzetti. Neither man had a previous criminal record.
Vanzetti on Trial
In addition to the payroll crime, Vanzetti was also charged with a separate robbery and attempted murder. Witnesses testified that Vanzetti was at the scene of the crime, but not all witnesses agreed on Vanzetti’s description. The defense produced several Italian witnesses who could speak little English. Vanzetti did not testify in his own defense, later claiming that his lawyers advised him against it.
After five hours of deliberation, the jury found Vanzetti guilty of both crimes. However, the attempted murder charge was later dismissed because the jury had tampered with evidence. Nevertheless, Vanzetti received the maximum sentence of 12 to 15 years in prison. A defense appeal was defeated.
Sacco and Vanzetti on Trial
Sacco and Vanzetti pleaded not guilty in the payroll crime. Vanzetti, a fishmonger, claimed he was selling fish during the crime, and several friends testified that Sacco had lunched with them that day. Prosecutors countered that Sacco’s friends were fellow anarchists and thus untrustworthy.
The prosecution attested that the payroll guard had been killed by a .32-caliber gun while his .38-caliber gun had been taken by the killers. The .32-caliber bullet in the guard was matched to the bullets in Sacco’s pockets. The .38-caliber gun found on Vanzetti was traced to a Boston repair shop, where the security guard had dropped it off a few weeks before.
The defense countered that test firings of the .32-caliber gun could not prove that it was the gun used in the crime. And there was no record that the security guard had ever retrieved his .38-caliber gun from the repair shop. Other prosecution evidence was questioned as well, including conflicting descriptions of the assailants from various witnesses.
After three hours of deliberation, the jury rendered a guilty verdict for both defendants on all charges. Since the verdict made both men eligible for the death penalty, the case quickly gained international attention.
The Sacco-Vanzetti Execution
Various investigations cast doubt on the facts of the case, such as witness coercion and judicial bias, but these produced no change in the decision. When a convicted felon confessed to the crimes, the judge cited the felon’s lack of credibility and refused a retrial, despite numerous pleas on Sacco and Vanzetti’s behalf.
The defendants were sentenced to death by electric chair in 1927. After reviewing the case one last time, the Massachusetts governor rejected pleas for clemency. Many prominent citizens joined radicals, anarchists, and communists in protesting the conviction. Protestors included Albert Einstein, H.G. Wells, Upton Sinclair, Bertrand Russell, George Bernard Shaw, Dorothy Parker, and Edna St. Vincent Millay.
Meanwhile, Sacco and Vanzetti consistently proclaimed their innocence. They claimed to be unjustly persecuted because of their political beliefs, and they called on fellow anarchists to avenge them. The two men were executed on August 23, 1927.
The Sacco-Vanzetti Aftermath
Over 10,000 mourners attended the funeral of Sacco and Vanzetti. In addition, massive demonstrations took place in New York, London, Amsterdam, and Tokyo. Riots erupted in Paris, Geneva, and Johannesburg. Radical allies of Sacco and Vanzetti retaliated by bombing the U.S. embassy and other U.S. interests in Buenos Aires. The homes of a juror, the executioner, and the judge were also bombed.
In later years, old anarchists who had known the men stated that Sacco was guilty, but Vanzetti’s only crime was knowledge of Sacco’s guilt. Later ballistics tests confirmed the bullet that had killed the security guard came from Sacco’s gun. Nevertheless, many historians claim that the men were convicted by an unfair system simply because of their immigrant status and political beliefs.
Sources
Wallechinsky, David and Wallace, Irving: The People’s Almanac (Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1975)
Zinn, Howard: A People’s History of the United States (New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2003)
Walter Coffey - Walter Coffey is a freelance writer who resides in Houston, Texas. Walter has written several works of historical fiction and non-fiction, ...
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