"Vigilantism" Update [James Fulford] - 05/05/05I did a post last week on Vigilantism—What It Is Not in which I said that even if the President is unclear on the concept, the New York Times should know better. Now Clayton Cramer has found a law professor (Stephen Bainbridge, "pro-immigration, legal or otherwise.") who can't tell the difference between the passive observation, no contact policy of the Minutemen, and the violence inherent in the idea of vigilantism. Thomas Sowell's latest column is entitled 'Vigilantes' on the border? "When some Americans living near the border in Arizona organized themselves to watch that border and report on people crossing it illegally, the media immediately demonized them as "vigilantes," even though these observers used no violence and inflicted no punishment." How strict was the no contact policy of the Minutemen? Look at this case, where a man was asked to leave the Minutemen for the following actions: He approached a border jumper, gave him, milk, cereal, $20.00 in cash, and a t-shirt that said "—caught me crossing the border and all I got was this lousy T-shirt." This is vigilantism? |
