Vigilantes in the Usa

Vigilantism in the U.S.

Vigilante groups seem from another time. Centuries ago, these people served as the judge, jury and executioner for the accused. A vigilante is someone who takes the law into their own hands. There are also online vigilante groups they will harrasses and punish those featured in online forums and viral videos. on the non-viral side There are at least four known armed vigilante groups in Arizona alone. Over thousands of members will annually gather to defend the U.S. Mexican border. Many groups are armed and untrained with such firepower which is not just a danger to themselves but to other innocent citizens. Vigilantes in the U.S. have a negative effect in society and a negative effect to law enforcement.

Online vigilante groups at times can do more damage and long term effects compared to traditional vigilantes. Online vigilantes sought out vengeance for a mother and daughter after they were denied entry into a staff bathroom at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. " A sick 5-year old was defecated on herself after she was refused access to an employees-only bathroom. The employees allegedly laughed, showing no remorse" (Janson). After the incident the mother posted the affair on a public forum as an example of bad customer service. Her story circulated on many websites. The manager's contact information was shared all over the internet and she received death threats. Vigilantes even posted pictures of the manager's home online. As a result the CEO of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory announced a public apology and the store in question was not operating under company policies and the manager of the store lost her job(Janson). Another example of online vigilantism is the murder of Jamie Kehoe. A man Garnet Ford was wrongly accused of murder. These accusations didn't come from the police but online vigilantes. It started from an anonymous Facebook post on Ford's wall. After Ford receiving death threats and derogatory messages(Janson). "Ford was horrified. He was innocent, but the damage was done. His boss forced him to take time off work, making it impossible to financially support his family including a 4 year old son and another baby on the way. The story created such a stir that the local homicide unit held a press conference emphasizing Garnet Ford was never a suspect" (Janson) Garnet assumes the accusations came from the fact the suspect was described as a black male in his 20s with no further detail. Online vigilantes labeled an innocent man as a murderer(Janson). This demonstrates the dark side of online vigilantism and those negatively affected.

Armed and untrained citizens interfering with the police and U.S. Border Patrol is very dangerous yet thousands of armed patrolmen gather at the U.S. Mexican Border to defend the U.S. from the Mexican government, groups claim they allegedly are "sponsoring the invasion of the United States with hostile intent" (Armed Vigilante...). some vigilante