Al Capone Involvement In Saint Valentine's Day Massacre

Source based essay

Research Question: To what extent was Al Capone’s reputation damaged by his involvement in the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre in 1929?

The Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre was given its name because of the date which it happened: 14 February 1929, on Valentine’s day. On this day Al Capone had hired men to go to Moran’s hide-out and shoot him dead, however Moran was not there that day and Capone’s men ended up brutally killing 7 of Moran’s men, resulting in a large outcry. Source 1 is an image of Al Capone’s criminal record which depicts Capone as more of a criminal and not just an infamous gangster, amongst many other crimes he committed, murder was one of which he was convicted of. To be publically known as a murderer massively taints one’s reputation. Source 2 shows the effect this massacre had on

This is suggested by source 3 as it shows George Moran’s men help at gunpoint by Capone’s men on the day of the Valentine’s Day Massacre. This source shows Capone’s brutality as Moran’s men are depicted in a vulnerable position not posing any threat to Capone’s men at all, but rather them being attacked. Source 4 which is a video which discusses how Capone had planned and calculated the attack, as it mentions how Capone’s men were dressed in police uniform, which could have been to minimise any suspicious thoughts of what was taking place that day. This source also informs us that the man who was the main reason for this attack was not even present at the time, meaning that Capone killed seven men for absolutely nothing, and still showed no remorse. Source 8 describes exactly how these men were killed with “15 bullets” per person, with the bullets “mostly in the head and torso”. This suggests that Capone’s men were ruthless and shot not only to kill but to a certain extent for enjoyment and 15 bullets per person is an excessive amount of times to shoot a