Vigilantism () is an act commonly summarized as "taking the law into one's own hands" which, according to Merriam Webster, means "to try to punish someone for breaking a law even though one does not have the right to do that." A vigilante is a person who practices or partakes in vigilantism.
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Definition
The term is borrowed from Spanish vigilante, which means 'wide-awake' or 'watcher', from Latin vigilāns. There are many different attempts to define what constitutes vigilantism and how can it be distinguished from acceptable forms of helping law enforcement without any legal authority, such as citizen's arrest and private investigation.
According to political scientist Regina Bateson, vigilantism is "the extralegal prevention, investigation, or punishment of offenses." The definition has three components:
Extralegal: Vigilantism is done outside of the law (not necessarily in violation of the law)
Prevention, investigation, or punishment: Vigilantism requires specific actions, not just attitudes or beliefs
Offense: Vigilantism is a response to a perceived crime or violation of an authoritative norm
Other scholars have defined "collective vigilantism" as "group violence to punish perceived offenses to a community."
Les Johnston argues that vigilantism has six necessary components:
it is planned or premeditated
it is carried out by private volunteers
it is a social movement
it involves or threatens the use of force
it occurs when established societal norms are perceived to be threatened
its primary goal is to enforce safety and security, especially to its participants, by combating crime
History
Vigilantism and the vigilante ethos existed long before the word vigilante was introduced into the English language. There are conceptual parallels between the medieval aristocratic custom of private war or vendetta and the modern vigilante philosophy.
Elements of the concept of vigilantism can be found in the biblical account in Genesis 34 of the abduction and rape (or, by some interpretations, seduction) of Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, in the Canaanite city of Shechem by the eponymous son of the ruler, and the violent reaction of her brothers Simeon and Levi, who slew all of the males of the city in revenge, rescued their sister and plundered Shechem. When Jacob protested that their actions might bring trouble upon him and his family, the brothers replied "Should he [i.e., Shechem] treat our sister as a harlot?"
In the Western literary and cultural tradition, characteristics of vigilantism have often been vested in folkloric heroes and outlaws (e.g., Robin Hood).
During medieval times, punishment of felons was sometimes exercised by such secret societies as the courts of the Vehm (cf. the medieval Sardinian Gamurra later become Barracelli, the Sicilian Vendicatori and the Beati Paoli), a type of early vigilante organization, which became extremely powerful in Westphalian Germany during the 15th century.
Vigilantism in Mexico
In some regions of Mexico, mainly in the state of Michoacan, people affected by criminal groups like Los Zetas and La Familia Michoacana, created vigilante groups called Grupos de autodefensa comunitaria in 2013. Their most well-known leader Hipólito Mora, was assassinated in 2023.
Other notable acts of vigilantism
In the early 20th century, the White Finns founded the Suojeluskunta (Protection Corps) as a paramilitary vigilante organization in Finland. It formed the nucleus of the White Army in the Finnish Civil War.
A number of vigilante organizations were founded in the US around the time of World War I including the American Protective League, National Security League, Knights of Liberty, and Boy Spies of America, with the goal of targeting those suspected to be pro-German or insufficiently loyal. Violent events by such groups included the Tulsa Outrage, the lynching of Olli Kinkkonen, and a number of other tarring and feathering events such as those in Wisconsin.
In the 1920s, the Big Sword Society of China protected life and property in a state of anarchy.
The Secret Six, a well-funded vigilante effort launched by the Chicago Association of Commerce in 1930, investigated and solved kidnappings, extortions, bombings, robberies, and other crimes, helped launch Eliot Ness and his Untouchables, was credited by Al Capone for destroying his illegal liquor empire, inspired The Secret Six movie, and was briefly emulated in cities across the nation until it was brought down by errors and scandal in 1933.
After World War II, many alleged Nazi collaborators were beaten up or killed for their activities by vigilantes.
Recognized since the 1980s, Sombra Negra ("Black Shadow") of El Salvador is a group of mostly retired police officers and military personnel whose sole duty is to cleanse the country of impure social elements by killing criminals and gang members. Along with several other organizations, Sombra Negra are a remnant of the death squads from the civil war of the 1970s and 1980s.
On the 5th of May, 1981 Marianne Bachmeier pulled out a handgun from the right side of her trench coat and shot her seven year old daughter's sexual abuser and murderer dead during his trial in the courtroom of Lübeck District Court.