Neighbourhood Vigilantes Gloat Online

Alleged vigilantes gloated on line about the 'lynch-mob' style beating given to a suspected car thief. The incident was posted online with some of the people involved boldly and proudly discussing what happened at a New Year's house party.

Winnipeg, CANADA - On New Year's Day at a house party in the French District of Winnipeg, several St. Boniface residents got into a confrontation with an alleged car thief. Images of a 21-year-old man, bloody and bruised emerged online according to the Winnipeg Sun. The incident was described on the Internet message board WinnipegHeights.com. with some people, mostly anonymous boasting and discussing what happened. "Now your first thought when seeing the pics of the guy bleeding is that we gave him a beating he'll never forget, but that would be illegal," wrote one man. He said that he saw someone trying to break into a friend's car up the street at 1:30 a.m. that day. He ran back to the house to call his friend and much to his disbelief when he returned the would-be thief was now attempting to break into his car with his wife and two-year-old child inside. A struggle occurred. "He must have 'fallen' in the struggle and smashed his face into our boots," the man added in the online thread. dubbed "us 1 - dirty indian thief 0". The man further went on to say on the thread that he wanted to dump water on the injured man but was restrained by some neighbours and that someone had a rope and was "going to put it around his throat and drag him down to the river." Winnipeg Police investigators will probe the New Year's Day confrontation that resulted in the images being posted online. The thread has since been removed from the website and contained at least one other racial slur. In another thread called 'Heights Is Famous' members were complaining that the media was trying to use the race card. Other posts included those that were proud and amused at the incident. "Haha my knuckles are on ice this morning...," wrote Rahim who later spoke to the Winnipeg Sun. "It was pretty much the definition of a vigilante attack, but I wouldn't say it was much of an attack," Rahim said, adding he only uses one name. He said that roughly around five men surrounded the alleged car thief and a few of them struck him before police had responded. "Most of the people there though, were circling the guy to keep him from getting away," Rahim said. "At one point, he tried to tackle one of the guys." There were also two photos of the beaten bloodied man posted on the website.The alleged car thief was taken away by police, questioned and released because of lack of evidence. Constable Jason Michalyshen said officers will take a closer look at the actions of the residents. "We're going to be investigating that further - about the pictures and the whole incident itself," he said. Rick Linden, a University of Manitoba criminology professor said that citizens walk a fine legal line when confronting and holding a suspect. Yesterday, in an update from the Winnipeg Sun a woman said that the vigilantes protected her and her child. Even though it was her husband that created the controversy she insists that racism or hated were not motivating factors. The Winnipeg woman said that the whole incident had been blown out of proportion because of racist comments made on the Internet by people who weren't even there. When they saw a bloodied aboriginal man in the photos that her husband uploaded they made some comments on what they saw. "It had nothing to do with race. They were protecting my child," said the 30-year-old woman, who spoke to the Winnipeg Sun on Saturday on the condition of anonymity. Media outlets picked up on the story after photos emerged on the WinnipegHeights.com site. Some anonymous writers were boasting about the assault and there were some comments that focused more on the alleged car thief's race than the incident itself. The woman insisted that the only reason why her husband took the photos was to be able to identify the man in case he escaped before the police arrived on the scene. She doesn't know why her husband put the photos on the Internet but they realize now it was a mistake to do that. "It was a very stupid thing to do," she said. The woman gave her version of the events that occurred. She said that she, her husband and sleeping son were just leaving a party when her husband saw a man attempting to break into a friend's vehicle up the street. When he ran back to the house to inform the other party-goers, the alleged car thief walked right up to their running car and pounded on the driver's side window to smash it, the woman said. She said that her two year old son, was inside the car alone and buckled into a car seat in the back and she was standing outside the car. She backed away screaming hysterically. "I was afraid. There's so much violence in this city, you never know," the woman said. "I stood there watching and praying this individual wouldn't harm my child." She said that the man tried to run away but he was 'tackled'. In a post on the forum, the woman's husband wrote: "I grab his jacket and we start to wrestle when 3 of my friends arrive and we 'restrain' the guy until the cops show up." The woman said she scooped her young son out of the car and went back into the house to keep warm, so she didn't see anyone assault the alleged car thief who was later taken away by police and released due to lack of evidence. The investigation continues.