The Irish Mob in Chicago

Just a quick look at the whole mobster/prohibition era, particularly as shows like Boardwalk Empire are proving so popular

Irish Gangs in Chicago during the 1920s- Conor Philpott [/b]



Life in the 19th and early 20th century America was difficult for many Irish people. Many were stuck in low pay jobs in poor neighbourhoods. They suffered discrimination due to their religion and were generally seen as being loutish trouble makers. Many had already formed street gangs. Theses street gangs had some minor conflicts each seeking to outwit the other and to expand their enterprise. While the crime the Irish mobs were involved in may have been somewhat small to begin with, it continued to grow and grow. Irish mobs were involved in things such as fixing horse racing, prostitution and other sorts of illegal business.




However in the mid and late 1800s,the Irish now had more competition. There were now Italian and Jewish immigrants moving to America and Chicago. Like the Irish, they too arrived here quite poor. The Irish Mob now had true competitors on their hands. The tensions between the Irish and Italians in particular continued to rise in Chicago. When the 18th Amendment (Prohibition-the banning of the open sale of alcohol) was brought in to place in the state of Illinois in January of 1919, the Irish saw the potential to make lots of money. The Amendment was not particularly liked by many Americans. Many bar owners decided to secretly continue running “speakeasies” to provide the people of Chicago with illegal alcohol. The gangs could bootleg alcohol and sell it to the various speakeasy operators across the state.




With prohibition now in place, many breweries sought to dispose of their alcohol. Some gangs bought these breweries, this was only to act as a front to avoid detection from the government. The early years of prohibition in Chicago didn’t have many incidents of note. The gang run by Johnny Torrio and Al Capone which would late be dubbed the Chicago Outfit were to the for of the prohibition and bootlegging stakes.

Spoiler:

The North Side Gang were a gang of various ethnicities, but were largely made up of Irish, German and Polish criminals. 2 of their four leaders during Prohibition in the 1920s were of Irish Extraction. The most notable being Dean O’Banion and George “Bugs” Moran. In 1920, O’Banion quickly set up a liquor operation, . They now controlled the North Side of Chicago . This was done after a deal was struck between the most prominent gangs in Chicago where each was assigned a territory , in the hopes of avoiding turf battles. However by 1923 O’Banion and his growing gang wanted more. The South Side of Chicago seemed to be an area to be exploited and O’Banion wanted a piece of the action. Torrio granted O’Banion’s wish. As O’Banion put more of his focus on his newer South side interests, a gang called the Gennas based in “Little Italy” began to sell their wares on what was O’Banion turf. O’Banion complained to Torrio, but Torrio didn’t listen to him. Torrio felt if he was seen to favour O’Banion then he may have lost his alliance with the Gennas. O’Banion still tried to wrestle control away from the Gennas resorting to hijacking some of their shipments. The Gennas were tired of O’Banion’s actions and decided to “rub him out”. However the hit wasn’t carried out as the Union Siciliane( a front for the Genna operations) decided it wasn’t in their best interests.



While the North Side Gang and Chicago Outfit hadn’t engaged in fighting at this point, their relationship was still somewhat tumultuous. The North Side Gang and Chicago outfit each had shares in the Sieben Brewery. O’Banion received a tip off that a government raid was imminent and sought to offload his shares. Claiming he was moving west and retiring, O’Banion went to the Chicago Outfit to sell his shares. The Chicago Outfit seeing a good investment, bought the shares. However on the night of the raid Torrio realised they had been double crossed. Having already been convicted of a previous crime Torrio knew he could face serious jail time if convicted. He swore revenge against O’Banion. On November 10th 1924, he got his revenge . O’Banion enjoyed tending to his flowers in his flower shop and one day a group of assailants from the Chicago Outfit raided the shop and gunned down O’Banion as he was tending to his Chrysanthemums .The murder of O’Banion incensed the North Side Gang and they seemingly believed in taking “an eye for an eye“. Hymie Weiss replaced O’Bannon . He originally planned to murder Al Capone, the second in command of the Outfit, however he failed and set his sights on Torrio. They seriously wounded him and he fled to Italy seeking retirement. Capone replaced Torrio as head of the Chicago Outfit.

Spoiler:

Weiss, aided by George “Bugs” Moran and Vincent Drucci focused their attentions on the Gennas. A South Side gang allied with the Outfit. Between May and November 1925, the North Side gang were believed to be involved in the murders of two Genna Brothers. The Gennas were aligned to the Chicago Outfit. Al Capone laid low as he was a murder suspect so little occurred until October 1926. Hymie Weiss was gunned down in front of a church on the 11th of October 1926. Drucci was next in line for the North Side gang. After Weiss’ murder a ceasefire instigated by Capone took place. No one was to encroach on the turf of another gang and 70 days went by without a Prohibition related murder. Ducci had the shortest reign of all North side Gang leaders. Following an incident at a politicians office, the gang leader was taken to a police station, possessing a .45 automatic pistol. Drucci began to argue with a patrolman while on their way to the Courthouse. A scuffle broke out and the officer fired at Drucci, hitting the mobster 3 times. With bullet wounds in his abdomen, left arm and right leg, Drucci died on his way to the county hospital. Drucci is believed to have been on of the few mob bosses to be killed by the Police and he received a 21 gun salute at his funeral.

Spoiler:

George “Bugs” Moran was now in full control of the North Side gang and was the sole person left of the Drucci, Weiss, Moran triumvirate that were involved in the North Side Gang’s main decisions after the death of O’Banion. While there was some animosity between Moran and Capone, the nature of Capone's revenge was quite shocking. It happened on February 14th 1929.













Saint Valentine's Day Massacre
1929



On the morning of St. Valentine's Day 1929, members of Bugs Moran's North Side Gang arrived into a warehouse where they awaited a shipment of Whiskey at a cut rate price. Moran himself was running late but at approximately 10:30, six North Side Gang Members were present, as well as a Mob "hanger on". Much like O'Banion a few years previous, Capone tricked Moran and his gang. As the group waited for the shipment to arrive, A police car pulled up. Moran, spotted this, turned and fled from the scene. From the police car, men wearing police uniforms as well as two civilians stepped out. The policemen were actually Capone's men but were in disguise. They ordered their opposing gang members to line up against the wall with their hands in the air. The phoney Police officers produced guns and opened fire. Killing 6 of the gang members instantly. Another, Frank Gusenberg would die later after allegedly surviving a 14 bullet onslaught. While the shootings did much to weaken the North Side Gang, Bugs Moran wasn't harmed.

There are many reasons for motives behind the massacre. The obvious one being control of Chicago's bootlegging business. Revenge was also a factor following the deaths of 2 associates of Capone at the hands of Moran's gang. Moran also had took over some of the Outfit's dog tracks and Saloons while Capone was in Miami.


Aftermath

The public outrage following the massacre was shocking. The Federal government began to crack down on organised crime, Al Capone in particular. Capone was jailed for tax evasion as he had failed to pay tax on his gambling profits. The North Side Gang meanwhile had suffered a big blow and never returned to the powerful gang they once were. The taxation on gambling profits also affected the North Side Gang. What hurt both gangs the most however was the repeal of Prohibition. The Outfit moved onto areas such as loan sharking while expanding into other cites. The North Side Gang eventually disappeared in the late 1930s losing their territory to a combination of The Chicago Outfit and the National Crime Syndicate.