George Clarence Moran and His Teenager Gangster Lifestyle - Essay Example

George Clarence Moran Introduction George Clarence Moran also known as Bugs Moran was a famous gangster during the 1920s. George was born on August 21, 1891 at St. Paul, Minnesota and was allied to the North Side gang (Faulk 33). His father was of French origin and mother from Canada and attained the name Moran due to his teenager gangster lifestyle. It is shocking that George was jailed on three separate occasions before he attained the age of 21 years when his parents moved to Chicago.. George ‘Bugs’ Moran was the last of North Side gang leaders, violent and urban dynasty that was occasioned by the rise of Dean O’Banion in 1920. His lifestyle was a mystery since police officers and journalists prided in profiling and knowing gangsters, but none was interested in Moran (Faulk 167). Moran was skillful to avoid predicted fate since at the high of high 1920s bootlegging as evidenced by his outright expression of a determined war survivor. Although not as witty as John Torrio or even Hymie Weiss, Moran on many occasions marveled many due to his instincts in evading possible assassination or arrest. However, his neck spotted 4-inch knife scar and had a crooked middle figure from broken bone symbolizing his past violent wars in criminal activities (Karlitz 213). George was a man of all lifestyles since some historical accounts claim that he fell in love with a newly immigrated showgirl of Turkish origin (Lucille Bilezikdijan). George showed her heartfelt love and raised the child she had from her previous marriage as his own and went further to bear a child with the showgirl. It is controversial how George Clarence Moran managed to be a great father who doted on his sons and at the same time engage in dangerous crimes that shocked many residents of Chicago (Faulk 56). Some historians may claim that prohibition era of 1920s contributed to the rise of gang crime since the 18th amendment banned the distribution of alcoholic beverages thus forcing criminal enterprises to organize in to street gangs in order to smuggle liquor. In this analysis, criminal gangs were driven by huge profits that were associated with lack of legal competition in manufacture, stealing and selling of the smuggled alcohol at huge profit margins (Asbury 78). I believe the federal government lacked the capacity to control gangster activities during the prohibition era since many gangs owned brothels, gambling joints and breweries as it was easy to bribe local officials and gangster lifestyle was associated with celebrity status in the poor social-economic neighborhoods (Karlitz 256). The rival gangs turned the streets in to virtual war zones with more than 12,000 murders taking place yearly. The law enforcement agencies were ill-equipped to take on the growing crime wave that was characterized by bootlegging, bank robberies, auto theft, kidnappings, drug trafficking and gambling. The police forces were lacked adequate tools and training to handle the gang crimes and judicial system was inefficient in prosecution. The desire to control criminal enterprise led to the rivalry between the two main gangs, one led by Al Capone who was a bitter rival of George ‘Bugs’ Moran gang. From the criminal records and incidents accounts, the two gangs struggled for power, recognition, money and prestige and tried for many years to eliminate each other’s leaders (Streissguth 234). The gang rivalry intensified in early 1929 when Al Capone went to Miami and his associated Jack ‘Machine Gun’ McGurn paid him a visit to discuss the assassination of George Moran. Jack ‘Machine Gun’ had earlier survived assassination attempt ordered by Moran and wanted to eliminate the Moran (Faulk 93). Surprisingly, Al Capone agreed to Jack’s plans and placed him in charge of eliminating Moran. According to accounts from several gang members, the whole plan entailed locating Moran’s headquarters in Chicago, acquiring police uniforms and stolen police cars so that any survivors would not attribute the assassination on Capone’s gang (Helmer and Bilek 93). McGurn’s booze hijacker contacted George Moran by for possible purchase of Old Log Cabin Whiskey at fair price. A meeting between the two was arranged at the garage on February 14th at 10.30 am and Moran gang members assembled at the garage. Surprisingly, Capone’s gang members jumped out of a stole police Cadillac with sirens, and dressed in police uniforms and ordered Moran members inside the garage to line on wall as they opened fire (Helmer and Bilek 88). Seven people among them four Moran gangsters, Moran enforcer and Dr Reinhardt Schwimmer who cavorted with criminals were dead. The event shocked the city and entire nation, but many residents continued to believe the police as responsible for the shooting for several weeks as neighbors reported that the attackers were in police uniforms. There is some evidence that Capone’s attacker’s main target was Albert Weinshank who resembled ‘Bugs Moran’, but Frank Gusenberg who died three hours later at the hospital did not name those responsible for the attackers (Faulk 96). In this case, it is highly true that Bugs Moran avoided the building when he saw a police car some minutes to 10:30 am thus unknowingly escaping the assassination attempt by the rival gang. However, no enough evidence was available to convict Al Capone, making him a national celebrity and his questioning by Dade county Solicitor after the massacre made him a subject of federal surveillance (Kerr 87). However, it is worth noting that Valentine’s Day massacre opened up interest in ballistics research since Cardiologist Calvin Goddard started profiling the bullets from 12 manufacturers and concluded that Capone had committed the crime. Goddard cleared the police authorities of blame and his conclusive evidence work inspired businessmen who contributed to set him independent ballistics lab to deal with fingerprinting, trace evidence and blood analysis thus contributing to advances in ballistic investigations (Kerr 137). Although the Moran gang was tightly knit, the massacre dwelt it a blow since the top men perished and Ted Newberry started associating with Capone crowd in exchange for lucrative Northside. However, George Moran tried to expand to California and started planning how to execute Newberry. Moran lost his influence in Clark Street after defection of several gang members and loss of top men during the massacre and thus the only way he could escape media attention, possible arrest by police or assassination by Capone was to move out of town (Kerr 99). Most of the published researches claim that George Moran was a liability to his gang since he lacked the essential planning for a long-time survival as the gang leader. Moran can be described as a poor financial planner and extravagant since he was penniless in 1940s notwithstanding the fact that he was one of wealthiest gangsters in Chicago at early age of 17 years. Moran had a cause-and-effect reaction approach since he retreated to committing other crimes when he left Chicago such as robbery and mail fraud. However, it is unclear how George Moran managed to move from one state to the other committing robberies, counterfeiting money and checks until he was arrested by the law enforcement officers (Kerr 129). It is evident George Clarence Moran was certain he would no longer see freedom after his arrest since he had several charges against him. Though young gangster prisoners treated Moran with respect, his second wife desserted him. George Moran can be described as the survivor of the nototious Chicago gangs who outlived to see the Al Capone and other gangsters of the era die. George Moran cooperated with mentally ill prisoners and died on February 25, 1957 from Lung Cancer. Accounts of Judge John Lyle, who presided several cases against George claim that George was remorseful of his actions and repented his past to the Prison Chaplain before his death. As Judge John Lyle points ‘Moran discerned contradictions in his make up, he was guilty of many crimes, sharp-witted, keen on humor, but sometimes emotional (Kerr 345)’. Conclusion George ‘Bugs” Moran was the last of North Side gang leaders who outlived to see the death of other gang leaders, but was finally imprisoned. The turning point to his criminal activities came on February 14, 1929 when several members of his gang were gunned down in a warehouse by a rival gang (Al Capone), an event that is widely referred as the Saint-Valentine’s day Massacre. George took revenge through driving by the rival gang’s hangout and spraying it with gunfire, an act which is currently referred as the drive-by shooting. Moran was lucky to outlive O’Banion, Capone, Weiss and Drucci, but he did not escape crime scot-free since he was arrested, and served prison sentence at Leavenworth prison. From the analysis, it is evident that George Moran is witty as he tried to avoid several assassination attempts and has love for his wife and children. Moran also escapes from one state to another thus committing various crimes like kidnappings, counterfeiting money and bank robberies despite being one of the wealthiest bootlegging gang leaders at an early age. Finally, Moran is emotional and remorseful as he repents to a Prison Chaplain for his previous crimes. Works cited: Asbury, Herbert. The gangs of New York: an informal history of the underworld. New York: Vintage Books. 2011. Kerr, Gordon. Professional killers. New York: Vintage Books. 2008. Faulk, Michelle. Gun crimes: dead people do tell tales. New Jersey: Enslow publishers. 2006. Karlitz, Gail. Virtual apprentice: FBI agent. New York: Ferguson Books. 2007. Helmer, William and Bilek, Arthur. The St. Valentine’s day massacre: the untold story of the Gangland Bloodbath that brought down Al Capone. Chicago: Cumberland House Publishing. 2006. Streissguth, Thomas. The roaring twenties. New York: Facts on File. 2007. Read More