vigilantes – Peter V. Bella

A Chicago Police spokesperson urged CTA riders —would-be security volunteers or otherwise —not to step in as vigilantes and instead call 911 if they witness a crime or something suspicious… “The police do not need private citizens taking law enforcement matters into their own hands,” CPD spokesperson Tom Ahern said.” (NBC 5 Chicago)

Vigilante:: a member of a volunteer committee organized to suppress and punish crime summarily (as when the processes of law are viewed as inadequate) broadly: a self-appointed doer of justice (Merriam Webster)

It was only a matter of time before vigilantes would crop up like weeds to “fight” crime. It will be only a matter of time before vigilantes seriously injure or kill someone.

Vigilantes are not new in Chicago. The city and CTA allowed a vigilante group, The Guardian Angels, to patrol the Els years back. Why? Curtis Sliwa, the vigilante group leader, is a shameless self-promoter. The news media fell in slobbering love with his group of vigilantes. The city and CTA caved into the drooling media mob.

The Guardian Angels did little to mitigate crime, but they shore did look purty with their cute little red beanies. All they needed were propellers.

One of Chicago’s greatest self-promoters, Tio “P.T. Barnum” Hardiman, formed a vigilante group to patrol the CTA Red Line. Naturally, he held a press conference. The puerile Chicago news media showed up drooling all over him instead of ignoring or opposing him. Once again, the city and CTA will allow vigilantes to “patrol” the El system with no accountability, liability, or transparency.

This vigilante group consists of volunteer licensed security guards trained in the martial arts and others trained in de-escalation- whatever that means- to patrol the north and southbound Red Line trains eight hours a day.

What can go wrong? Who will be accountable and liable if the vigilantes seriously injure or “accidentally” kill someone? Will the taxpayers be on the hook for a lawsuit settlement? Will the vigilantes be held criminally responsible? Suppose one of the vigilantes gets shot or seriously injured. Will the news media make them a hero of the republic?

See the video at the end of this post where the vigilante Guardian Angels tried to detain a man, who had obvious mental health issues, for smoking pot on the El platform. He was leaving the station. All they had to do was follow him to make sure he left. Instead, they escalated the situation. Appalled bystanders protested their violent action. The vigilantes made the whole thing look heroic, the man look like a violent criminal, and the bystanders looked like fools. He was smoking weed. He was bothering no one. He was leaving the station.

It is time the city and CTA grew a pair and ban Hardiman and his group of vigilantes or any others, including the Guardian Angels, from patrolling the Els or any place else in Chicago. If Mayor Lori Lightfoot has the biggest d**k in the city, she should demonstrate she also has the biggest b**ls. Ban vigilantism in Chicago.

What if groups of concealed carry holders decided to form vigilante groups to patrol the Els or the streets? Will the mayor allow it? Would the horny teenaged news media fawn over them as they did over Tio Hardiman and the Guardian Angels? What if some lone armed vigilante decided to take matters into their own hands and hunt for active criminals?

The real problem being ignored by the news media is the inept leadership of Superintendent David “Tex” Brown. When crime spiked on the public transportation system, he should have beefed up patrols on the trains and platforms. Instead, he keeps fumbling and bumbling, having no idea what he is doing. He should have been fired long ago.

The hormonally charged news media need to stop fawning, drooling, and slobbering over vigilante groups formed by charlatans and frauds whose only goal is self-promotion. People like Tio Hardiman should be ignored. He did nothing to improve conditions on Chicago’s streets except to promote himself. Tio’s “Greatest Show on Earth.”

There is a sucker born every minute. The Chicago news media is breeding them every minute. So are City Hall and the CTA. So are the citizens in this city of fools.

Chicago needs solutions to the crime issues plaguing the city. We do not need bumblers and fumblers like Tex Brown. We do not need vigilantes. We do not need mountebanks and quacksalvers like Tio Hardiman.

Note: The original video when published did not have the text justifying the vigilantes’ violent actions. It must have been added later.

YouTube

As Chief Justice John Roberts noted in his dissent to the court’s 5-4 decision to allow the law to go into effect, at least for now: Texas “essentially delegated enforcement of that prohibition to the populace at large. The desired consequence appears to be to insulate the State from responsibility for implementing and enforcing the regulatory regime. The State defendants argue that they cannot be restrained from enforcing their rules because they do not enforce them in the first place.” (Chicago Tribune).

If you thought the unthinkable could not happen, leave it to the bubbas and bubbettes of Bubbaland. “The Great State of Texas” is now the laughingstock of the nation. They passed a piece of legislation that is the biggest legal joke in the country.

Those wily s**t kicking Texans passed a law the state will not enforce. They will let vigilante mercenary citizens enforce the law. After six weeks of pregnancy, the law allows people to sue anyone they believe participated in an abortion- even the cab driver who took the patient to the clinic. They legislated deputizing mercenary stool pigeons and bounty hunters. If they win, the participant pays up to a $10,000 fine, and the money goes to the stool pigeon.

Like their avian pigeon brethren, stool pigeons leave s**t all over the place. There is another name for stool pigeons, rats.

Instead of making abortion a crime, they made it a tort. Anyone with no standing can sue people for something that harms their fragile beliefs. Soon stool pigeon and rat posses will be ridin out all over the state to claim their reeward. Oh, people will get a fair trial. First, they’re gonna try ya. Then they’re gonna fine ya, turning it over to the stool pigeons and rats—Yippie aye yay cow pattie.

Supposedly Texas is citing “medical science” about fetal heartbeats. It must be from the same textbook of animal husbandry they rely on to curb the spread of pandemics and prescribes livestock dewormers for preventing and curing COVID.

No matter your belief in abortion, this is laughable and dangerous. Both the extremist progressive and far-right groups are looking at this law with glee. They are trying to figure out how to get similar stool pigeon/rat legislation passed to turn us into a divided nation of snitchers while punishing bitchers, comedians, satirists, artists, humorists, opinion writers, or people who disagree with the regime.

They will not only enact wokism, cancel culture, and offending fragile beliefs, but will reward it. This is something where opposing extremist sides can work in bipartisanship since both are equally dangerous.

Those good ole freedumb lovin Texans established the first plank of dictatorship. Gotta tip yer dusty Stetson and kick up yer s**t kickers to em. Hoist a Lone Star and give em a mighty round of applause.

Justice Roberts used a clever word to describe Texas, “regime.” Regimes used and still use laws like this to punish, reeducate or execute those who disagreed with or make fun of their dear leaders. The Russian, Nazi, and Chinese regimes had stool pigeon legislation. North Korea and other brutal regimes have similar laws. Bitchers are turned in by snitchers.

This legal thinking can go down to the local level. Your neighbor sees the mayor’s picture on your dartboard. Boom, they get a reward, and you will be hauled off to indoctrination jail. Your child hears you say disparaging things about the governor and tells their teacher. A posse hired by the teacher’s union will take you away. Do you have an alderman’s picture on your toilet paper? Streets and San will haul you away on garbage pick-up day. They will collect a reward.

There is a reason the social justice warriors want jail populations reduced. They make room for the victims of stool pigeons and rats to be reeducated or punished for their harmful beliefs.

Never think that politicians care about your freedom or the Constitution. They have been trying to “fix” that document since its inception. Texas is just the beginning. As long as this law stands, what stops other states, cities, or the federal government from implementing stool pigeon/rat legislation, creating a new torts class, and “deputized” vigilantes?

If you think this Texas law is just about abortion, you are thinking wrong. There are all kinds of issues that cannot be outlawed. Yet, like in Texas, they can turn the issues into torts. You can be sued by people who suffer no harm, except to their fragility, and they will be rewarded by the fine. Snowflakes and cupcakes from the far right to the far left will be roving the nation looking for offense.

The City of Chicago is always looking for ways to rob the citizens through fines. It is a good bet the mayor and city council are looking at this cash cow. They will be scheming to figure out a way to keep part of the reward money for themselves. That’s the Chicago Way.

Tag: vigilantes

Say no to vigilantes in Chicago

Deputized stool pigeons