St Valentine's Day Massacre Research Paper

On a chilly February morning in 1929, Chicago’s North Side bore witness to a gruesome event that would forever stain its history—the infamous St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. Inside the S.M.C. At the Cartage Company garage at 2122 North Clark Street, seven men connected to George "Bugs" Moran's bootlegging operation were awaiting a meeting to purchase a Canadian whiskey shipment that had been taken advantage of at a favorable price. However, four guys—two dressed in police uniforms—arrived in a patrol vehicle, went inside the garage, and gave Moran's men the order to stand shoulder-to-shoulder against one of the walls. They thought they were the target of a police raid, so they did not resist and were brutally gunned down (“The St. Valentine’s”).

John Kachellek was his father, and Anna Kachellek was his mother. They were both German (“Massacre Victim’s”). What is more, he was Moran’s second-in-command (Beck). John May, a former safecracker, was a mechanic who worked for George “Bugs” Moran of the North Side gang and was not a gangster himself (Hogan). His father, Michael May, was from Canada, and his mother, Mary Riley, was from Ireland. He had seven siblings (“Massacre Victim’s”). Dr. Reinhardt H. Schwimmer, an optician, had an unusual fascination with the gangster lifestyle. He liked associating with the North Side Gang but was not a member (“Massacre Victim’s”). Highball, a German shepherd, was the pet of John May and the sole survivor of the massacre. He howled and alerted the neighbors, who found him trapped under a truck and covered in shell casings and blood. It was said that the massacre left Highball so traumatized that he had to be put down (“A Complete Guide”). The victimology of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre raises interesting questions about how victims are perceived and treated by others based on their attributes. In the case of this crime, the victims were members of a notorious criminal gang, which may have influenced how society viewed them. The concept of the "ideal victim," typically characterized as innocent, vulnerable, and blameless, may not have applied to these victims due to their association with organized

An ideal victim is blameless, helpless, and attractive. This idealized victimhood confers a greater sense of worthiness and deservingness of sympathy and support. In the case of the massacre, the victims were members of criminal organizations, which automatically tainted their status as victims in the eyes of the public. The perception of these people as "undeserving victims" led to a lack of empathy and outrage over their deaths().

The historical background of the time, in addition to cultural prejudices and stereotypes, played a part in the victims of the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre being overlooked. Widespread violence, corruption, and lawlessness characterized the 1920s and 1930s, especially in cities like Chicago where organized crime thrived. It was simpler to write off the massacre victims as mere casualties of the violent underworld that they were a part of because of the public's widespread mistrust of criminals and