The cartoon is depicting a Palmer raid, which resulted from the red scare. These raids were lead by Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer. In the cartoon, the big men are representing palmer and his men. They are captruring men whose Americanism is suspected. One of the men is carrying an American flag, showing that many innocent Americans were arrested. The bomb in the background represents the chaos that occured during this time. Palmer's home and Wall Street were both bombed. The man in the center has his foot against a boat of men, representing immigrants. This shows the anti-immigrant sentiment that permeated the period of the red scare.