Stopping someone against their will can be false imprisonment or even kidnapping. There are laws that determine who is acting as a hero and who is acting as a vigilante.
Country singer Jason Aldean sings in front of the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tenn.
Jason Aldean
Coffy saw Pam Grier as the main propulsive force in a Blaxploitation movie, breaking ground for later female roles such as Ripley in Alien, Sarah Connor in Terminator and Nakia in Black Panther.
Security companies suggest that criminals take advantage of the fact that many home and business security systems get compromised during power outages.
Studies show that people belonging to marginalised groups are disproportionately affected by police brutality.
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When communities face security challenges and lack legal protection, they find innovative ways to respond.
Reenactments of Old West gunfights, like this one at a tourist attraction in Texas in 2014, are part of the mythology underpinning the United States’ gun culture.
Carol M. Highsmith via Library of Congress
A scholar of gun culture looks at the roots of Americans’ love affair with firearms – and their willingness to accept gun violence as a price of freedom.
Protesters march down a street in Durban, South Africa, in April, demanding an end to illegal migration.
Rajesh Jantilal/AFP/Getty Images
Aside from human rights abuses, vigilantes may be unreliable, poorly skilled, and lacking transparency and accountability.
Wanda Cooper-Jones, mother of Ahmaud Arbery, listens as attorneys speak outside the Glynn County Courthouse on July 17, 2020, in Brunswick, Georgia.
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The murder of Ahmaud Arbery exemplifies the racial, often violent barriers still remaining in the US. The 25-year-old Black man was out for a jog. But three white men thought he was a criminal.
Portland police hold back Chandler Pappas, who was with the victim, in the wake of a fatal shooting on Aug. 29, 2020.
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The increasing visibility of a wide range of militia and vigilante groups has repeatedly caught local communities and national leaders off guard.
Armed white citizens and police have historically worked together in the U.S., though it’s not clear whether that’s what’s happening here.
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The US has a centuries-old tradition of killing black people without repercussion – and of publicly viewing the violence. Spreading those images can disrespect the dead and traumatize viewers.