Which two Italian radicals were arrested in 1920 and executed in 1927, becoming symbols of the Red Scare?

• A. Sacco and Vanzetti
• B. Al Capone and Bugsy Siegel
• C. The Rosenbergs
• D. The Pinkertons

Answer: (A)

During the Red Scare, fear of anarchism and anti-immigrant sentiment led the United States to clamp down on radicals, using high-profile trials to send a warning about national security. Sacco and Vanzetti were two Italian immigrants who openly supported anarchism and were arrested in 1920 for a payroll robbery and murder in Massachusetts. Their trial raised deep questions about fairness, evidence, and bias against immigrants and political dissidents, and they were executed in 1927. Because their case became a powerful symbol of how the era treated radicals and newcomers, it stirred protests and debate about civil liberties and the reach of anti-radical sentiment in law enforcement and public opinion. The other options don’t fit: Al Capone and Bugsy Siegel were Prohibition-era gangsters, not political radicals; The Rosenbergs were executed in the 1950s for espionage; The Pinkertons were a private detective agency, not a pair of radicals who were executed.