I believe anyone accused of a crime should have the right to a fair trial and a lawyer.
Until recently, I believed my opinion was mainstream.
It’s not.
In Italy, a respected newspaper was attacked and vandalized by activists who claimed their coverage of the Middle East was biased. I find this extremely surprising. La Stampa has published many articles such as “Israel commits war crimes”. Apparently that was not enough. There was just a wild claim on social media. That’s it. Then people stormed the newspaper and vandalized it. Journalists received death threats. I think this is fucked.
Recently in France, a far-right activist was beaten to death on camera. He was on the ground and a crowd of 10/15 masked people kept beating him. The guy is far-right, but he has no criminal record. A crowd just decided that the death penalty was appropriate for him.
Never liked mob justice. Never will.
I believe anyone accused of a crime should have the right to a fair trial and a lawyer.
Apparently, that’s no longer accepted.
I sometimes get the sense that mob justice is less about actual justice and more about the rush of being part of the mob and finding some meaning in belonging to it.
It’s really not that different from piling onto someone for voicing a wrong opinion online - it’s just further down the same spectrum.
Nobody wants to be the one getting piled on, but man, it’s great to be in the pile with the rest of “my team.” Not to mention being the one who sparks the pile in the first place. That’ll make you feel powerful and validated like nothing else.