Citizens Warn Criminals "We Will Lynch You"

Borderland Beat

Here is another story of citizens becoming fed up, then used a page from the book of narco terrorism to deliver their warnings...and it's working..

Residents of Xochimilco are worried over increasing assaults and robberies, they hanged banners in which they threaten of lynching thieves.

Ciudad de México.- Villagers of Xochimilco send a warning to thieves: if they catch you, you will be lynched.

Neighbors worried about the wave of robberies to businesses and houses, hanged on the main avenues of the community, banners with a warning.

These messages were placed three months ago and, since that time, there has not been any robberies registered.

Previously, commerce and houses of Santa Cruz Acalpixca, a village located on the highest part of Xochimilco- about 8 kilometers of Periferico Sur- , were defaced after delinquency tagged them  with drawings believed to be warnings.

“One day”, remembered Alicia, a neighbor of San Gregorio Atlapulco, “they broke into several houses and businesses (of Santa Cruz). They were marked with something like a gun and bullets and the next day they were found robbed.” And when people saw the same drawings outside of the businesses of San Gregorio, about 2 kilometers of Santa Cruz, they decided to send a warning to the thieves.

“That was the cause of the organization: the primary cause was fear”, said Luis Reyes, neighbor of this village.

Then the people removed the marks and made the banners with the threats: “Neighbors united against crime, we are tired of so many acts of crime, (delinquency)  don’t become the suspect, if you are caught stealing, we will act directly on you and you will not be sent to the authorities “We will lynch you!”.

The concerns extended to the village of San Luis Tlaxialtemalco, where the same warnings were placed.

Now, on the principal avenue of both villages, a banner greets the travelers. In one banner, it is reads:

 “Neighbors united against delinquency. Any rat (thief) will be lynched”

In another they warned:

“Thieves if we catch you, we are not going to send you to the authorities… We are going to lynch you!!”.

And apparently, it has worked; for the three months that the banners have been hanged there, there has not been one robbery conducted, subsequently, no lynching's.

Jose Luis Perez Martinez, coordinator of Public Safety of Xochimilco, said that there has been an desperate approach by the residents  and the SSP was notified to take precautions.

“We have had meetings with the corporations to begin operatives and make ourselves present. I told the attorney directly, but they became upset because there is no formal complaint”, he reported.

He added that the majority of the people don’t have the means of denouncing to the Public Ministry, nor they trust the police officers.

Daniel Cunjama, investigator of the National Institute of Penal Science, said that in zones where a social connection- characterized by a very intimate connection between the neighbors-, there can occur a lynching if the community feels threaten.

“When the safety , talking from the point of view of the State [ meaning the Police], is not enough to provide safety to those who needed, the reaction of these groups is to take justice on their own hands”, he says.

Source: Noticias Terra

Thank you goes out to the BB reader who sent the story in