Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Share The Craziest Cases Of Vigilante Justice They've Ever Heard Of

This isn't the Wild West....

People do awful things in life, illegal things that wreak havoc onto the innocent. And for that they must be punished, in the right way, through legal channels. Vigilante justice has more often than not caused more pain than peace. It is difficult to deal with pain and loss but taking retribution into our own hands is dangerous. The actions people have taken part in, in the name of justice is shocking.

Redditor u/Stock-Mud wanted to discuss all the reasons why some people need to be careful with their need to justice... an eye for an eye only brings more darkness and chaos by asking.... What's the most fitting case of "vigilante justice" you've ever heard of?

1-

The man's name was Ken Rex McElroy. He terrorized the small town he lived in for years. He was accused of: regularly stealing from his neighbors stuff like livestock, gasoline, and antiques; robbery; harassing women; destroying property (including burning down his wife's parents house when she tried to leave him); assault, including shooting at least 2 people. He was charged with various crimes at least 3 times a year, but he had an incredible lawyer.

Dude was only ever charged with anything once.

He used to intimidate witnesses against him by following them or parking outside their homes and watch them until they were too scared to testify against him.

That one time he was charged, by the way? He shot a grocer in the neck with a shotgun. For that he was given a charge of second degree assault. Max two year sentence.

But he appealed of course and got out on bail. So he goes into a bar and loudly threatens to murder said grocer (who survived the shotgun to the neck by the way). All that did was get his trial pushed back.

Anyway so the town had a meeting, then a big group of them went to the bar where Ken liked to drink and shot him in the damn head. GiftedContractor

2-

All these stories about sickos getting their teeth kicked in or murdered.

What about that nut that drove around his town spray painting penises on all the potholes? That way the city was forced to repair them. Not like they where just going to clean the paint and leave the pothole. Funkybag

3-

It's more of just "justice" but there's the judge that comes up with punishments that fit the crime- a lady left a box of puppies outside, so he ordered her to sleep outside in a box. WatchTheBoom

4-

Phoenix Jones

A real-life costumed vigilante in Seattle, originally an amateur MMA fighter. He (and later his team of other costumed vigilantes) would patrol the streets of Seattle and stop crime, mainly assault and theft.

A quote from his Wikipedia article:

Jones says he wanted to take policing matters into his own hands after a few incidents changed his mind about Seattle. The first was when Jones says that his car was broken into and his son was injured after returning to the vehicle and falling on the broken glass. Jones was told that several people saw the break-in happen, but did not intervene. Later, Jones says that he encountered a friend being seriously assaulted outside a bar, and after calling 911 he put on the mask from the earlier break-in and "made a commotion" until the police showed up. "And I thought, why didn't someone help him? There were seventy people outside that bar and no one did anything." ArcticFox46

5-

I remember a newspaper article going around the internet about a junkie robbing a store. While fleeing, he was stopped by a few marines on leave, and he stabbed one of them. He then ended up tripping and breaking both his arms, 7 ribs, his jaw and his nose, losing most of his teeth, and crushing his windpipe. UnoriginalUse

6-

Ok, not so dark and brutal as most comments here. Czech republic had its own vigilante hero named SuperVaclav for a time.

He sat in a park, and when dog owner did not pick up poop after his dog, SuperVaclav did it for him - and spread it on owner's back. Or, putting out smoker's cigarette on bus stop with bucket or water, etc.

It kind of broke my heart when I read it was probably all just some viral marketing stuff. rouen_sk

7-

In Texas, a guy's truck broke down a few feet from his house so he had his two sons get out and push the truck to the driveway while he steered the car. A drunk driver came and hit the truck, the crash was so hard that the elder son who was pushing the back left side of the car (the side closer to the road), had his limbs scattered along the road. The other son pushing the car also died

At some point after the crash and before the cops were arrived, "someone" came and shot the drunk driver with a gun. No gun was ever recovered from the scene and when the father was asked whether he had a gun, he said he did but that he had lost it. All the cops could find in the guy's house was the empty holster and ammunition matching the caliber found in the drunk driver's body

When the crash happened, his neighbors came out to see what had happened. One called the cops about the crash and you could hear the gunshots in the background.

Whatever happened between the crash and the arrival of the cops, his neighbors refused to speak

https://www.cnn.com/2014/08/28/us/texas-father-acquittal/index.html

https://www.chron.com/news/article/Judge-in-murder-trial-asks-family-to-remove-pins-5697997.php MissionExit

8-

My first job was at a tire shop, and I worked with this older guy named Doug. He was around 60 yo— the nicest guy I've ever met. One day at work, a guy and his girl got into a heated argument in our parking lot, and the guy slammed her up against his car. Doug and I saw it, and Doug just looks at me, with a tire iron in his hand, and goes "one sec."

He walks over to the guy, drops his tire iron, and slams the guy in the ground. He whispered something to him that I couldn't hear from where I was, but the guy got up and opened the passenger door for her and they drove away. Doug walked back over and just started working on a car like nothing ever happened. I'll never forget it. _tommy-_

9-

Back in middle school I admittedly bullied this other girl pretty bad, including once shoving her into some dog poop.

One day her older brothers came by as I was walking home from school and forced me to eat dog poop. foxurinefetish

10-

Somewhere in northern Ontario a few guys bagged a dude. sack on head and beat him so bad he spent a long time in the hospital. dude was physically abusing his wife and daughter. cops came to the high school and "questioned" people. everyone knew who did it.... boyfriend of the daughter but cops dropped all investigations soon after. k0r0ze

REDDIT

Do you have something to confess to George? Text "Secrets" or ":zipper_mouth_face:" to +1 (310) 299-9390 to talk to him about it.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

James Talarico
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images

GOP Strategist Tries To Smear James Talarico With One Of His Old Facebook Posts—And It Backfires Spectacularly

Texas state Representative James Talarico is the Democratic nominee for Texas Senator John Cornyn's seat in the 2026 midterm elections. His Republican opponent will be decided between the incumbent Cornyn and controversial, scandal-ridden Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton after a run-off slated for May 26.

Talarico has been part of his home state's legislature since 2018. Before that, he was a middle-school English teacher and an executive director for a Texas nonprofit focused on bringing technology to low-income classrooms.

Keep ReadingShow less
Callista Gingrich
Vatican Pool - Corbis/Getty Images

Trump Ambassador Dragged After Seemingly Facetuning Herself In Official Government Video

Callista Gingrich, the U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein and wife to former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich, was criticized after she appeared to Facetune herself in an official government video marking the SelectUSA Investment Summit.

The 2026 SelectUSA Investment Summit will be held in National Harbor, Maryland, from May 3–6, and offers opportunities for companies, investors, economic development organizations, and industry experts to network and invest in the United States.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Donald Trump
@Acyn/X

Trump Rips Himself With Self-Own For The Ages In Push For Presidential Cognitive Exams

President Donald Trump told on himself after he explained why he thinks prospective presidential candidates should be required to take cognitive exams—seemingly oblivious to all the concerns about his own cognitive decline.

Trump was discussing his administration's pledge that Social Security benefits would be tax-free in an appearance before senior citizens at The Villages, a prominent Florida retirement community, when he made the claim.

Keep ReadingShow less
Hilary Duff
TheStewartofNY/FilmMagic/Getty Images

Hilary Duff Shares Simple Yet Powerful Mantra Amid Worrying Weight Loss Trends—And Fans Are Applauding

Content Warning: Body-Shaming, Weight-Shaming, Body Image Issues, Eating Disorders, Skinny Trends

Millennials who saw Cheaper by the Dozen, The Perfect Man, and A Cinderella Story have always known that Hilary Duff was that girl.

Keep ReadingShow less
Jimmy Fowlie
Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images for Netflix

'SNL' Writer Reveals His Sister's Disappearance Has Now Been Ruled A Homicide In Heartbreaking Post

On December 22, 2025, days before Christmas, actor and Saturday Night Live writer Jimmy Fowlie shared an Instagram post about his sister, Christina Downer, who had been declared missing.

Fowlie asked people to reshare the missing person flyer from the Los Angeles Police Department.

Keep ReadingShow less