Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti had many things in common, including that both men were anarchists. In 1920, because of the Red Scare people with radical ideas were accused of communists. Sacco and Vanzetti were anarchists. They believed in a society without government or laws. A paymaster of a shoe factory, in Massachusetts, died during an armed robbery. Both men were arrested, tried and convicted. They were executed in 1927.