Mobsters and the Mafia

     The most notorious mobster of the Prohibition era is Chicago gangster, Al Capone. While he is famous for his public boldness and daring actions, Capone was also extremely violent - choosing to vie for territory. This led to bloody turf wars with "Tommy guns" (a submachine gun invented in WWI).

    One such turf war is the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. On February 14, 1929, Al Capone's men (disguised as policemen) entered a garage run by a rival bootlegging gang members - George "Bugs" Moran's men. Capone's henchmen lined up their opponents and shot them in cold blood, which dramatizes the intense rivalry and violence that circulated around the need to control alcohol manufacturing and more during the Prohibition. 

(TW: graphic images)

Al "Scarface" Capone, boss of the Chicago Outfit

Thompson submachine gun or Tommy gun

St. Valentine's Day Massacre victims