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Thread: The Vigilante Justice Thread

  1. #51
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    https://globalnews.ca/news/4293097/c...lante-justice/

    Here is one an Alberta group says they never encourage vigilante justice but they went on to describe an incident where a farmer shot the person he accused of trespassing.

  2. #52
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    https://www.voanews.com/a/accustomed...s/4452330.html

    Gypsies in Italy fear Vigilante attacks.

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  4. #54
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    https://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/new...-37045072.html

    Update on the Ireland vigilante incident.

  5. #55
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    http://www.dailylocal.com/article/DL...NEWS/180719994

    In this #Metoo era, reputations have been devalued to the point that even if you have one to protect, the avenging angels of society (prosecutors, investigative journalists, tweeting A-List actresses) will run roughshod over it. Now that we?ve decided that pretty much every accusation ever made against a film producer, a CEO of a Fortune 500 company or a Catholic priest must be true, our collective concern for avoiding slanderous accusations against someone who cannot defend themselves has pretty much evaporated.

    Raymond J. Donovan, Secretary of Labor under President Reagan once famously said, after he was acquitted of corruption charges, ?Which office do I go to, to get my reputation back?? It was a rhetorical question that was once considered legitimate, but that today is mocked. Who cares about the reputation of the wrongly accused if we can advance a political agenda that comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable, right? Who cares if that film producer never laid a hand on that starlet, enough of them did so let?s not worry about the details of a particular case. Why worry about that Fortune 500 CEO since his accuser makes about a tenth in her entire lifetime what he makes in a month? And that Catholic priest? We know he did something, and if he didn?t, so many of them did that it?s a literal sin to obsess over Father Expendable.



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    I?ve heard a lot about cover-ups these past few weeks, as the Pennsylvania Supreme Court blocked the release of one in a continuing series of grand jury reports that detail alleged abuse in several Catholic dioceses across the Commonwealth. The high court refused to release the report immediately because of a concern that the interests of many people mentioned in that report could not be adequately protected. The interest, obviously, is what Shakespeare called ?the eternal part of myself,? a person?s reputation.



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    A number of plaintiffs, whose identities have not been revealed, went to court to prevent the release of the report, at least until such time as the interests of those who care about their reputations could be satisfactorily addressed. That seems fair to me, since the incidents alleged in the report are beyond the reach of the criminal courts. That?s another topic for another day, by the way, the idea that we can just eliminate statutes of limitations for cases of abuse that allegedly occurred decades ago. I?m strongly against that move, because it reeks of vigilante justice and also seems to completely bypass the issue of due process. State legislators who want to eliminate the statutes or render them virtually unenforceable have a fawning, appreciative audience among constituents who think the mere accusation of abuse should be enough to strip an accused of legal protections. The #Metoo movement has made it easier to dispense with caution, fairness and common sense.


    But even if I agreed that we could simply eliminate those statutes of limitations and leave the door open for accusations of abuse to be made decades after the fact, when minds have clouded and witnesses have evaporated, that doesn?t mean I think that it?s OK to simply throw people who have been accused of wrongdoing to the media wolves in the court of public opinion. Frankly, the only people who think that might be OK are the ones who never had a finger pointed in their faces and a big ?J?accuse? shouted in their direction.

    Lately, we?ve seen a lot of people brought down by innuendo. State Rep. Nick Miccarelli has been the target of some media malpractice in the way that journalists have handled the case of two women who accused him of sexual harassment. Those women got to hide behind the veil of what I call Immaculate Anonymity draped around victims of abuse, while his name was splayed across the pages of this paper and others. That one of his accusers willingly chose to out herself doesn?t change the fact that his name gets dirtied, and the accusers get the grace of silence.

    State Sen. Daylin Leach was subjected to the same treatment, as was Al Franken, as were many of the men caught up in the #Metoo maelstrom. Their reputations, if not completely destroyed, have been compromised. When I wrote about that in the past, I?ve gotten emails and tweets from angry readers who think I?m defending rapists and abusers. I?m obviously not, but it?s a lot sexier to throw out those accusations instead of saying ?hmm, she has a point about defending the due process rights of these fellows.?

    In the case of this grand jury report, it?s even more tempting for people to assume the worst. Catholic priests are fair game, and have been since the first hint of scandal emerged about 20 years ago. Defending the due process and right to reputation of any person accused of a crime is unpopular these days, but infinitely more difficult when you are dealing with a class of men ? Catholic priests ? who have been branded, by default, as rapists.

    So I wasn?t surprised when the media types filed suit to force the Supreme Court to release the report. Journalists always pretend to be riding that high horse of justice and righteousness when it comes to the First Amendment, and though they sometimes whine when people say mean things about them (ooh ooh ooh, the president insulted us!) they seem to have no real problem rushing to expose ?newsmakers? regardless of whether those people might be permanently harmed by the revelations.

    A grand jury proceeding is not a trial. It does not afford the people mentioned in the courtroom ironclad legal protections, and as was once famously noted, even ham sandwiches of good and decent reputation can end up on the wrong side of a prosecutor.

    Both the state Legislature and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court have realized that investigating grand juries are powerful things, and can have a devastating impact on those who are subject to their reach. Last year, the high court formed a task force to review the operations of those grand juries and to recommend updates to the process (http://www.pacourts.us/assets/files/....pdf?cb=97d698) and state Sen. Stewart Greenleaf drafted Senate Bill 1133 to address deficiencies.

    Perhaps that?s why the court itself agreed to seal the report until such time as it could be convinced that the plaintiffs who sued to bar its release were adequately protected under the Constitution.

    Because our justice system isn?t based on empathy. It?s based on the law.

  6. #56
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    https://www.theprogress.com/opinion/...igilante-fire/

    The keyboard warriors are in full force these days, while never lifting more than fingers.

    It’s all too easy with the ubiquity of social media, and our devices to connect to said media, to tap out frustrations. Eliciting fighting words without any real fight is all too common.


    The alternatives are digital complacency or, what? Vigilantism?

    As we see anecdotal increases in property crime, the keyboard warriors, all of us, tap-tap-tap ever fervently, hoping the metaphorical scream into the digital void will do something.

    Being a vigilante is dangerous, unreliable, and unethical as it emerges from a rejection of the rule of law, and evokes an individualized, almost frontier mentality.

    Who decides what’s right and wrong? Each and every one of us at any given time?

    That’s anarchy.

    I had a moment of vigilantism recently after seeing a post from a mother whose nine-year-old daughter’s purple bike was stolen. It was a distinct bike, both the frame shape and the colour. And because I have a daughter that age, it pissed me off.

    Then, amazingly, I saw a grown man on the bike. So I asked myself: What do I do now?

    I followed him and quickly realized it’s hard to follow a guy on a bike while driving a car. Eventually I rolled my window down and said I knew it was stolen. I asked if he wanted to give it back. He ignored me and I lost him.

    But then, even more amazingly, three hours later, there was the bike again. With a different guy on it.

    So I followed yet again to the front door of the downtown Save-On where I said/asked: “That’s a stolen bike. You want to give it up?”

    Not exactly a bravado moment of vigilante justice as I called out from the safety of my car, in public, with a camera rolling on him.

    “You want to take it?” he asked.

    “Ya, please,” I responded just as Canadianly as I could.

    And like that, a nine-year-old got her bike back.

    I recount this not to brag – although it did feel good to hear from a grateful mother – but because it brings forth the issue of vigilantism.

    Recently an employee of our newspaper rousted a man sleeping up against the building. She went to her car and the man came over and threatened her with a knife. Jeffrey Timmerman is now facing numerous charges, none of which have been proven in court.

    Confronting people doing bad things isn’t a great idea.

    “Police want to stress that at no time should the public take the law into their own hands,” said Cpl. Amelia Hayden.

    Cpl. Hayden isn’t talking about what I did or what my colleague did, but rather a group in Port Alberni who allegedly kidnapped and restrained a child luring suspect.

    “Vigilante actions like these are not only illegal and put people in danger, but they also have the potential to compromise the original ongoing investigation,”

    Creep Catchers routinely brags about their self-gratifying vigilantism, which has turned sport and entertainment with online videos of alleged pedophiles being caught luring children for sex.

    But what they do is useless to the police and Crown counsel. This vigilantism is often done by people who are recovering victims themselves, maybe as a form of displaced revenge, maybe just for fun.

    What is worrying with all this is that an instinct to be angered over a young girl’s bike being stolen parallels this more serious vigilante justice, and is but a symptom of a larger phenomenon of which we’ve barely scratched the surface.

    Justice, in whatever form that takes, should be what we are all after.

    Whether it’s online shaming or vigilante justice, trouble is around the corner as people feel disenfranchised by the system. Cameras are ever more ubiquitous and shared more easily on social media, and people may increasingly put away the keyboards and start to lash out.

    I got lucky with my safe-enough, request from the car to give back a stolen bike.

    But I wonder what a more aggressive, sick-and-tired vigilante might have done. And might yet do.

    Someone is going to get hurt.

  7. #57
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    Google Engineer victim of lynchings in India

    https://www.dw.com/en/india-google-e...ors/a-44679902

    Note the name has not been identified at the time of post but there's speculation that the victim was killed due to mob justice in India.

  8. #58
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    https://m.khaleejtimes.com/internati...hatsApp-rumour

    Update 25 people are being accused of killing Mohammad Azam the deceased Google engineer in question.

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    https://indianexpress.com/article/in...nataka5259851/

    Another reports suggested that the killers in question killed Mohammad azam because they thought he was a child predator.

  10. #60
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    https://m.gulfnews.com/news/asia/ind...mour-1.2251890

    Now 32 people are detained over the death of Azam. Note there Are reports that a Whats app rumors triggered the killings to take place.

  11. #61
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    https://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...le24423373.ece

    Update Amar Patil and Manoj Biradar are named as the accused for inciting a lynching incident on the victim they accuse of being a child molester.

  12. #62
    Senior Member blighted star's Avatar
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    There's some crazy cases in India lately. There was a second mass family suicide last week too

    https://www.hindustantimes.com/india...jcwQcSv4H.html

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    https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/fe...073333535.html

    Now Whatsapp is being called out for fake news given this recent death of a Google staff member in India.

    . On Friday, an IT engineer working for a multinational corporation based in Hyderabad went on a drive with three others, including a Qatari friend, in the southern Indian state of Karnataka.

    Hours later, Mohammad Azam was beaten to death by a mob of around 200 people in Bidar district, about 150km from Hyderabad - a major IT hub - after he was suspected of being a child kidnapper.

    At least 32 people, including the administrator of a WhatsApp group that circulated the abduction rumours, were arrested following the attack on Friday, India's NDTV website reported.

    Azam was the latest victim of abduction rumours circulating on the popular messaging platform owned by Facebook.

    Since the end of April, more than two dozen people have been beaten to death by mob vigilantes across India over suspicions of child abduction, according to reports.

    READ MORE
    India arrests 18 after two men lynched over WhatsApp rumours
    Two weeks ago, five men in their 20s were also lynched by a mob at Dhule in the western state of Maharashtra, following similar rumours shared on WhatsApp, according to police.

    One of the five men, all nomadic beggars, was spotted talking to a young girl at a bus stop, leading to the deadly beating. They all died before police could take them to hospital.

    Activists and technology analysts have raised alarms that messaging applications like WhatsApp are being hijacked by people intent on spreading hoaxes.

    Harsh Mander, an activist fighting hate crimes and mob lynchings in India, said WhatsApp only serves as a platform to spread a pre-existing tendency for violence.

    "It's the culture of violence patronised by the politics of hatred that legitimises such killings, and not just a social media platform," Mander told Al Jazeera.

    Easy accessibility to technology
    Earlier this month in southern India's city of Mangaluru, a man out in the street with his two-year-old daughter, was beaten by a mob.


    WATCH: One year since protesting farmers killed by police in Indian's Mandsaur (2:42)
    In the northeastern state of Tripura, a man working for the government to dispel WhatsApp rumours on child kidnapping was beaten to death on June 28.

    In a report published on July 6, The Indian Express said at least 27 such killings in the last one year showed a similar pattern: Outsiders who happened to be found in an area, lynchings taking place during the night, and helpless police often outnumbered by the mob.

    The report said that WhatsApp, which counts India as its largest market with over 200 million users, was the most frequently used phone application to spread fake news and hoaxes.

    Journalist and social media expert Nandagopal Rajan said end-to-end encryption on WhatsApp makes any kind of regulation "almost impossible".

    "It can't control something it can't see," Rajan told Al Jazeera.

    WhatsApp is a free app, which runs even on low-priced phones, making it easier for messages to spread among the country's millions of consumers.

    For example, an edited version of a video featuring an anti-lynching campaign in Pakistan was shared widely in India.

    In the Dhule lynching case, a video showing scores of Syrian children, who died in a nerve gas attack five years ago, was shared triggering the deadly attack.

    WhatsApp mob
    The Indian government has asked WhatsApp to take "immediate action" to prevent the misuse of the social media platform. The government said the messaging service "cannot evade accountability and responsibility" when its services are abused.


    WATCH: Jignesh Mewani describes plight of India's Dalit community (1:34)
    WhatsApp, in response, said such issues are "best tackled collectively" by the government, civil society and technology companies.

    "Like the government of India, we're horrified by these terrible acts of violence and wanted to respond quickly to the very important issues you have raised," WhatsApp said, according to the Reuters news agency.

    Last week, WhatsApp published advertisements in India's leading newspapers to push back against the accusations.

    WhatsApp also announced a $50,000 grant for ideas to help fight the spread of fake news in India.

    India's Ministry of Home Affairs has directed state governments investigate the killings, and identify "vulnerable areas" where attacks could ignite.

    On Tuesday, India's Supreme Court asked the government to create new laws to deal with cases of lynchings, saying "mobocracy" can't become the norm.

    Zafar Islam, spokesman of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), told Al Jazeera that the government is committed to stop the mob lynchings.

    "The government is doing everything to ensure WhatsApp and other social media are not misused by vigilante groups or random mobs."

  14. #64
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    https://www.bloomberg.com/view/artic...not-whatsapp-s

    Now the op-ed points back at Indian Society and Indian leaders for the escalation of Lynchings in the country.

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    https://www.financialexpress.com/opi...oblem/1247284/

    Yes the op ed points back to Indian Society for putting fake news on Whatsapp and they point back at the people who turned a blind eye on the killers that incited a vigilante murder in India.

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    https://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...le24423373.ece

    Update 34 people are mentioned as suspects for the murder of Mohammad Azam.

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  18. #68
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    https://m.sfgate.com/news/article/In...l-13081376.php

    Update now the Indian Courts have put out a ruling in response to the death of Azam

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    https://www.thenewsminute.com/articl...-s-hands-84971


    More updates on the fallout of the lynchings.

  20. #70
    Senior Member blighted star's Avatar
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    Haven't they had a few WhatsApp vigilante attacks? I think there were 2 young guys on bikes who were beaten to death too




    This isn't the one I was thinking of, but they murdered a 16 yr old & 18 yr old over WhatsApp rumours about cow theft a few months ago

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/25/w...-violence.html

    This is the one I was thinking of - 2 more innocent young men, Nilotpal Das, a 29-year-old audio engineer, and Abijeet Nath, a 30-year-old digital artist, were murdered because locals believed manufactured Whatsapp rumours of child traffickers. In this case there's footage of the lynching because the morons recorded & uploaded it.

    https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2018/06/r...aths-in-india/


    Banning WhatsApp won't help because it won't end the idiocy & mob mentality that's really causing this - they'll just take it to another messaging platform & carry on with the same shit

  21. #71
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    https://www.engadget.com/2018/07/19/...news-violence/


    Now Facebook the owners of Whatsapp responds on how to respond to fake news that incites violence. But in the articles they use Myanmar as an example.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/18/t...-violence.html


    https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...b0fd5c73c21697
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...rs-on-facebook

  22. #72
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    Quote Originally Posted by blighted star View Post
    Haven't they had a few WhatsApp vigilante attacks? I think there were 2 young guys on bikes who were beaten to death too




    This isn't the one I was thinking of, but they murdered a 16 yr old & 18 yr old over WhatsApp rumours about cow theft a few months ago

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/25/w...-violence.html

    This is the one I was thinking of - 2 more innocent young men, Nilotpal Das, a 29-year-old audio engineer, and Abijeet Nath, a 30-year-old digital artist, were murdered because locals believed manufactured Whatsapp rumours of child traffickers. In this case there's footage of the lynching because the morons recorded & uploaded it.

    https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2018/06/r...aths-in-india/


    Banning WhatsApp won't help because it won't end the idiocy & mob mentality that's really causing this - they'll just take it to another messaging platform & carry on with the same shit
    http://www.indiawest.com/news/techno...742ba2fb9.html

    Yes now an Oped in India is calling for Facebook leadership to shut down WhatsApp. However facebook leadership has other PR issues besides Whatsapp from the main facebook itself having to deal with fake news swaying elections in Russia and the USA to this latest one. The entire company has to do reforms.

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  24. #74
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    Vigilante shoots police officer

    https://nypost.com/2018/07/19/vigila...to-pee-police/

    According to the article the Vigilante in Bakersfield, CA apparently accused the Undercover Cop for looking for Hookers.

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    http://www.bakersfield.com/news/repo...da4b04497.html

    The Vigilante in Question is Michael Beilby of Bakersfield age 66. He is accused of shooting his gun because he accused an undercover officer he believes is about to get a hooker.

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