Ballistic testimony from an expert who was a state witness was brought to
show that the fatal bullet was not Sacco's, but to no avail. New trials
were denied. The State Supreme Court upheld the murder verdict. The
governor upheld it. He appointed a special commission of professors headed
by President Lowell of Harvard, and they upheld it. Four justices of the
United States Supreme Court were contacted for a stay of execution. All
refused.

On August 22, 1927, Sacco and Vanzetti were legally murdered by the State
of Massachusetts. The tragedy of their untimely and cruel death is still
an open wound in the hearts of many of us who remember them as shining
spirits, as truly great men such as only the lowly of the earth can
produce.

We of the International Labor Defense call upon all the progressive
people in America today to help us honor their memories by helping us
fight the reaction, the bigotry, which brought about their death, by
helping us defend and protect the victims of the present and the future.

During the fifty years that have passed since 1887 the toll of victims has
grown. But though the road is red with the blood of these martyrs, the
triumphant march of labor towards progress and democracy has not been
halted. The example of steadfastness which they have set up before us has
strengthened us in our determination to carry on the fight in which they
lost their lives. On this anniversary, we give our pledge. It shall be
done. Reaction, fascism and the terror which it brings in its path shall
not pass.