Gangster headlines in American newspapers
Front pages report a 'Railway Station Massacre!' and a 'Crime Wave' sweeping the Midwest, followed by a car at night amid flashes of light.
The 'Evening Monitor', Night Extra, reports a 'Railway Station Massacre! 4 Officers Slain; 2 Wounded', with columns on bullets flying as 'gangland again defeats officers'; the 'Daily Times' announces 'Crime Wave Sweeps Midwest!'; a dark car passes at night amid flashes of light. The invented titles point to props from a Hollywood gangster film.
The first headline recalls the Kansas City massacre of 17 June 1933, when gunmen trying to free a prisoner killed four law officers outside Union Station. Such crimes of the early 1930s led Congress in 1934 to give federal agents wider powers. The Why We Fight films repeatedly likened the Axis leaders to gangsters.