THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 3, 1995 TAG: 9505030004
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 31 lines
Had the U.S. Congress performed a timely, proper investigation of the Waco killings, the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building probably would not have occurred.
There is a law more fundamental than any law ever passed by any legislative authority; a law that operates at all times and places; a law which the Romans termed the lex talionis - the law of revenge.
The Oklahoma City bombing, which occurred on the second anniversary of the killings at Waco, appears to have been motivated by revenge against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms/FBI occupants of the federal building.
When a person becomes convinced that an injustice has been committed against himself or others important to him and that no official court will seek to remedy that injustice, that person may well become a vigilante.
You and I may disapprove of such misguided conduct, but that is the way human beings act. To ``demonize'' such human conduct is to react irrationally and incompetently. The main problem with vigilante justice is that too many innocent people get hurt.
WILLIAM M. YUDT
Portsmouth, April 23, 1995 by CNB