Volume 44- No. 9
by lyle e davis
In the Old West, when law enforcement was spotty or nonexistent, vigilantes sometimes stepped in. A known cattle rustler might be found face-down in a gully with a terminal case of "lead poisoning," as they used to say in TV westerns. The word ‘vigilante’ has been around for awhile. It is being used more and The Paper - 760.747.7119
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February 28, 2013
more often today . . . and rather than taking on a negative impression more and more of the public appear to be sympathetic to such a movement. Why?
It appears to be simply because the federal government has not been doing their job. When the public sees that elected officials are not doing their job they often roll up their sleeves, adopt an atti-
tude of, “if they can’t or won’t do it, we will.”
The term ‘vigilante’ came into being largely due to the formation of San Francisco’s Committee on Vigilance, formed by citizens in 1851 to combat organized crime. Later, the 1856 Vigilance Movement became even more active. Because the people were so enraged at the lack of government attention to serious
crime and economic problems a group came together and while they got a lot of things done . . . there was also a lot of violence. People died as a result of vigilantes . . . often with the approval of the on-looking public.
There are those political observers who are predicting that the phenomenon of vigilantes will rise again and, further, that violence is so likely to occur that it is no longer a question of if but when.
“Vigilantes . . . ” Continued on Page 2