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Extreme Vigilante Justice in History
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00:00Today, we're going over stories of people who went to extreme lengths to take justice into their own hands.
00:07Oh, and uh, I'm back!
00:09John Brown
00:10It's 1812, and a 12-year-old boy named John Brown is delivering a herd of cattle that he'd just
00:16driven over 100 miles to the home of a U.S. marshal.
00:19The marshal is impressed that such a young boy was able to do this all alone, and invites him to
00:24stay with him for a few days before making the trek back to Ohio.
00:27John is tired from the journey, and the marshal seems friendly, so he agrees, and together they enter his home.
00:34Inside, John sees a boy around his age dressed in ragged clothing.
00:38He excitedly rushes over to introduce himself, and the boy, though nervous at first, eventually warms up, and the two
00:44begin to play together.
00:45This boy was smart, kind, and gives John some things that he'd made as gifts.
00:49Soon it's dinner time, and the marshal calls for John to join him, and the guests he invited at the
00:54table.
00:55John's new friend serves them while the marshal praises John in front of his friends.
00:59This boy drove all that cattle out there over 100 miles all by himself!
01:03He beams as if John were his own son.
01:06The dinner is wonderful, filled with laughter, and eventually the guests leave to head home.
01:11John is smiling, full and content, but as the marshal closes the door behind the last of his guests, a
01:18dark scowl emerges on his face.
01:20He turns to John's friend, the boy, and he begins berating him for the mistakes he had made during dinner
01:25service.
01:26The boy is terrified as the marshal walks to the fireplace and grabs an iron shovel.
01:32Without hesitation, the marshal turns and begins viciously beating the boy with it.
01:37John watches helplessly as his friend is hit over and over again.
01:41The sound of the shovel ringing out against his skull echoes in the room,
01:44and he can smell the boy's blood as it begins to pour from a wound on his head.
01:49In that moment, the cruelty of the world his parents had warned him about becomes crystal clear.
01:55The Browns were Calvinists, and they had told John that slavery was an abomination against God.
02:01Though he'd heard those words countless times, this night was the first time he had seen its horrors with his
02:06own two eyes.
02:07At that moment, John Brown silently decides there is no greater evil in the world than slavery,
02:13and that he'll wage an eternal war to end it.
02:16The 1800s in America were a very uneasy period to say the least.
02:21Tensions between the northern free states and southern slave states were rapidly escalating,
02:25and his father, an abolitionist, had begun helping escaped southern slaves by sheltering them
02:30as they made their way through the Underground Railroad.
02:32Because of this upbringing, John had learned to treat every person of color with dignity and respect,
02:38and so everywhere he went, he was quick to befriend freed slaves and Native Americans.
02:43At the age of 16, he set out to make it on his own as a man.
02:46He moved from city to city, trying his hand at various businesses,
02:50all of which seemed to fail eventually.
02:53He popped out 20 kids between two wives,
02:56and perhaps most importantly to him,
02:58he did whatever he could to help slaves escape to a better life in the north.
03:01In 1829, Brown was operating a secret safe house for the Underground Railroad in Pennsylvania.
03:07One day, some neighboring white families came over and asked for his help
03:11in driving out some Native Americans from their lands.
03:14Disgusted by the request, he answered back,
03:16I would sooner take up my gun and help drive you out of the country.
03:26But as much as John Brown hated racism, half of the country felt exactly the opposite way.
03:32Slaves were essential to the economy in the south,
03:35and with the Three-Fifths Compromise of 1787,
03:38which classified slaves as three-fifths of a person,
03:41southern states quickly gained disproportionate political power in Congress.
03:44This led to the passing of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850,
03:49which required northerners to capture and return escaped slaves to their owners.
03:54Upon hearing the news, John Brown could not believe a law so heinous was passed,
03:58and for the first time in his life,
04:00he questioned if the pacifist views held by his fellow abolitionists
04:04would be enough to bring the changes required to right the wrongs being done in this country.
04:08In response, he forms a group called the League of Gileadites,
04:12an armed group who defended escaped slaves from slave catchers.
04:15They are successful, but as hard as he tries,
04:18Brown can see that the future of the country is growing increasingly grim.
04:22In 1854, Congress passes the Kansas-Nebraska Act,
04:26which left the decision on whether those territories joined the Union
04:29as a free state or a slave state up to a popular vote.
04:32Immediately, pro- and anti-slavery settlers rushed to Kansas
04:36to try to sway the voting in their favor,
04:38and amongst the anti-slavery settlers were five of John Brown's sons.
04:43More pro-slavery settlers pour in from Missouri
04:46and begin terrorizing anti-slavery settlements,
04:49and Brown's sons write to him asking him to come to Kansas to help the cause.
04:53Initially, he refuses, but by October of 1855,
04:57John cannot turn a blind eye to the possibility of another slave state joining the Union,
05:01and so he loads up a wagon of rifles, pistols, and swords
05:05and heads west to help his sons.
05:07Kansas was primed as a political powder keg ready to explode,
05:11and though he did not know it at the time,
05:13John Brown would be the one to light the match.
05:16On May 21st of 1856,
05:19a pro-slavery group sacked the anti-slavery city of Lawrence, Kansas,
05:23and the following day,
05:24pro-slavery representative Preston Brooks
05:27savagely beat Senator Charles Sumner with a cane on the Senate floor
05:31after he'd given an anti-slavery speech.
05:33The one-two combo of the sacking of Lawrence and the caning of Sumner
05:37breaks something inside of the 55-year-old John Brown.
05:41His whole life, he had hoped the South would eventually see that slavery was morally wrong,
05:46but now he realizes this was nothing but a fool's dream.
05:49The so-called abolitionists in the North were all cowards.
05:54They do nothing but talk.
05:56Slavery must end, by any means necessary.
05:59If no one else will do it, then he will deliver God's judgment himself.
06:04And so, on the night of May 24th, 1856,
06:08John brings a group made up of his sons and fellow abolitionists
06:11to the home of pro-slavery settler James P. Doyle
06:14and demands that he and his sons come out.
06:16Doyle and two of his adult children nervously comply
06:19and they are led a hundred yards into the darkness.
06:22The group of men walk silently in the light of the moon
06:25until Brown's two sons turn towards the Doyles and draw broadswords.
06:30Cold and emotionless, they raise their weapons
06:32and begin hacking their hostages to pieces.
06:36Screams fill the night air as John Brown draws his pistol
06:39and fires a round point-blank into James Doyle's forehead, finishing him off.
06:44The Brown Party traveled to two more houses that night
06:47and executed two more pro-slavery settlers.
06:50John Brown was now a murderer
06:52and this event, known as the Pottawatomie Massacre,
06:55kicked off a state-level civil war that would be called Bleeding Kansas.
07:00John Brown quickly becomes public enemy number one
07:03amongst the pro-slavery settlers in the territory
07:05and warrants are put out for his capture, dead or alive.
07:08But Brown does not back down
07:11and he leads his anti-slavery militia
07:13in multiple battles across Kansas against pro-slavery forces,
07:17becoming a highly polarizing national figure.
07:19By the end of the year,
07:21the anti-slavery settlers in Kansas seemed to have turned the tide
07:24and it was looking like Kansas would eventually join the Union as a free state.
07:28Leading Kansas had not been easy for John
07:30as he lost one of his sons in the violence
07:32and with the increasing bounties being put on his head,
07:35he decides to leave the area as a wanted man.
07:37By his exit from Kansas,
07:39his deeds had turned him into a household name.
07:42Many in the North called him a hero fighting for justice,
07:45while in the South, he was branded as a deranged lunatic.
07:48But what John Brown planned to do next
07:50would make all the previous events appear small in comparison
07:53and it would change the course of American history forever.
07:57In August of 1859,
07:59John meets his longtime friend,
08:01escaped slave and activist Frederick Douglass
08:03in an abandoned stone quarry in Pennsylvania.
08:05Now a wanted man,
08:07the meeting is done in secrecy with just a few in attendance.
08:10After exchanging pleasantries,
08:12Brown tells his old friend about a plan he'd been working on for years.
08:16Inspired by the story of Moses,
08:17who led the slaves out of Egypt in the Bible,
08:20and the tales of Spartacus,
08:21a slave who had led a slave rebellion against the mighty Roman Empire,
08:24Brown believed deep in his heart
08:26that the slaves in the United States,
08:28if provided the opportunity and proper means,
08:30would rise up against the oppressors
08:32and take their freedom for themselves.
08:34Douglass cannot believe what he's hearing
08:36as Brown continues to share his plan
08:38to raid the federal armory at Harper's Ferry, Virginia
08:41and incite an insurrection of slaves against their owners.
08:45Douglass desperately pleads with his friend not to do this.
08:48Attacking a federal building would be a suicide mission.
08:51But Brown pushes back,
08:53saying that he's now realized his purpose.
08:55He is an instrument of God,
08:57and this act would serve as notice to all slaves in America
09:01that their friends had come.
09:04As they part ways,
09:05Brown turns to his friend and tries one last time.
09:08Come with me, Douglass.
09:10I will defend you with my life.
09:12Douglass shakes his head,
09:14but an escaped slave who had accompanied him to the meeting
09:17is moved by Brown's words
09:18and agrees to join him on his mission.
09:21Frederick Douglass smiles weakly at his dear friends,
09:23shakes their hands and says goodbye.
09:26And so, in the dark of the night on October 16th, 1859,
09:30John Brown and 18 of the 22 men he had brought with him
09:33sneak into Harper's Ferry
09:35and cut the telegraph lines into the town.
09:37They quickly seize the federal arsenal
09:40and take the commanding officer, Louis Washington,
09:42George Washington's great-grandnephew, hostage.
09:45Everything is going exactly to plan.
09:47The arsenal contained over 100,000 rifles and muskets,
09:51more than enough to fuel any slave uprising.
09:54Now, all they had to do was wait for them to come and join them.
09:57But instead of reaching the slaves he had hoped for,
10:00word of Brown's capture of the arsenal
10:01spreads much more quickly to militias in nearby towns
10:05who all race to Harper's Ferry.
10:07By the following day,
10:08Brown's raiders find themselves surrounded.
10:11He had waited too long for an army of slaves that never showed up,
10:15and now he was trapped.
10:17Firefights break out,
10:19and Brown's raiders flee into the nearby fire engine house
10:21with their hostages.
10:23By nightfall,
10:24President Buchanan orders a detachment of U.S. Marines
10:27to Harper's Ferry
10:28and commands Army Colonel Robert E. Lee
10:30to lead them to retake the armory.
10:32On October 17th,
10:34after a failed negotiation,
10:35Colonel Lee orders the Marines
10:37to storm the fire engine house.
10:39Within minutes,
10:40John Brown was wounded and captured,
10:42and eight of his men,
10:43including his sons,
10:44were dead.
10:45Brown is charged with treason
10:47against the Commonwealth of Virginia,
10:49murder,
10:50and inciting an insurrection.
10:51His case is expedited through the courts,
10:54and he's found guilty on all charges.
10:56When asked if he had anything to say,
10:59John Brown rises from his seat
11:00and eloquently begins a speech,
11:02denying any wrongdoing
11:03and saying that,
11:04if his same actions had benefited the rich
11:07instead of the enslaved,
11:08he would have been rewarded
11:09rather than punished.
11:11He closes his statement
11:12with the following words,
11:14Now,
11:14if it is deemed necessary
11:16that I should forfeit my life
11:18for the furtherance
11:19of the ends of justice,
11:20and mingle my blood
11:21further with the blood
11:22of my children,
11:23and with the blood
11:24of millions
11:25in this slave country,
11:26whose rights are disregarded
11:28by wicked,
11:29cruel,
11:29and unjust enactments,
11:31I submit.
11:33So let it be done.
11:35John Brown was hanged
11:37for his crimes
11:37on December 2nd, 1859.
11:40In the crowd that gathered
11:41to watch his execution
11:42were U.S. soldiers
11:44Stonewall Jackson
11:45and Jeb Stewart,
11:46men who would later fight
11:47for the Confederacy
11:48against the country
11:49they had sworn to protect.
11:51Also watching from afar
11:52is John Wilkes Booth,
11:54the man who would later assassinate
11:56President Abraham Lincoln.
11:58John Brown makes no speech that day,
12:00but instead hands a small note
12:02he had written
12:02on a scrap piece of paper
12:04to his jailer
12:04as he walks up to the galley.
12:07I, John Brown,
12:08am now quite certain
12:09that the crimes
12:10of this guilty land
12:11will never be purged away,
12:13but with blood.
12:15I had, as I now think,
12:17vainly flattered myself
12:18that without very much bloodshed
12:20it might be done.
12:22And John Brown
12:23was prophetically right.
12:25His raid on Harper's Ferry
12:26equally stirred the hearts
12:28of abolitionists of the North
12:29and terrified slave owners
12:31in the South
12:31who rapidly began to push
12:33for secession
12:34from the United States.
12:35In just over a year,
12:37the American Civil War began
12:38and 750,000 Americans
12:41will die in the war
12:42to end slavery.
12:44As they marched
12:45throughout the country,
12:46Union soldiers
12:46began singing a song
12:47they called
12:48John Brown's Body
12:49as a rallying call.
12:51What began as a joke
12:52with crude lyrics
12:53evolved into a song
12:54detailing the life
12:55of a man
12:56who had given everything
12:57he had to end
12:58what he considered
12:59the greatest sin
13:00of his nation.
13:01This song
13:02was eventually rewritten
13:04into the Battle Hymn
13:05of the Republic
13:06or as it is more commonly known
13:08Glory, Glory, Hallelujah.
13:11Gary Plochet
13:12It's 1983
13:13in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
13:15and Gary Plochet
13:16is driving his 10-year-old son
13:18Jody to karate practice.
13:20Jody's been training
13:20under his 24-year-old instructor
13:22Jeffrey Doucette
13:23and Gary is proud
13:24of how much his son's improved.
13:26But at the same time,
13:27Gary feels bad for the guy.
13:29See,
13:29Jeff seems like a good guy
13:31but he's struggling financially.
13:32So much so
13:33that it's pretty obvious
13:34he's been living
13:35at his karate dojo.
13:37So,
13:37wanting to help him out,
13:38Gary starts inviting Jeff
13:40over for dinner
13:40and occasionally
13:41lets him stay the night.
13:43Over the next few months,
13:44Jeff becomes
13:44a close family friend.
13:46To Jody,
13:46it was awesome
13:47having a cool older friend
13:48around so often.
13:49The two start spending
13:51a lot of time together
13:52going to movies
13:53and traveling to different cities
13:54for karate tournaments.
13:55And to Gary,
13:56it was great
13:57that his son
13:57had a positive role model
13:58that he could trust
13:59to keep Jeff safe.
14:00But that trust
14:02was about to be broken
14:03in the most horrific way imaginable.
14:06On February 14th, 1984,
14:09Jeff asks Gary's wife
14:11if he can borrow her car
14:12to visit his uncle
14:13and if Jody
14:14can come along for the ride.
14:15She doesn't see
14:16anything wrong with this
14:17so she hands over the keys
14:19and tells them to have fun.
14:20A few hours later,
14:22Jeff calls
14:22and says they've decided
14:23to stay the night
14:24at his uncle's place
14:25and will be back the next day.
14:27But when the next day comes
14:28and goes
14:29with no sign
14:30of Jeff or Jody,
14:32Gary and his wife
14:33start to worry
14:33that something terrible
14:34may have happened.
14:35They contact the police
14:37who begin searching
14:38for the boy
14:38and his instructor.
14:39But despite their efforts,
14:41there's still no trace
14:42of either of them.
14:44Hours turn into days
14:45and Gary's worry
14:46slowly turns into dread
14:48that the worst has happened.
14:50The police soon launch
14:51a country-wide search
14:53to bring Jody back home
14:54and all the while,
14:55Gary can't stop imagining
14:56all the horrible things
14:57that may have happened
14:58to his son.
14:59Two weeks pass
15:01with no signs
15:02of Jody or Jeff
15:03and the terrifying possibility
15:04that he may never
15:05see his son again
15:06begins to feel
15:07very real to Gary.
15:09But on February 29th,
15:11Gary's wife receives
15:12a collect call
15:13from a motel
15:14in Anaheim, California.
15:15When she picks up the phone,
15:17she hears Jody's voice
15:18on the other end.
15:19Thank God,
15:20he's alive!
15:21The police quickly trace
15:23the call
15:23and pinpoint Jody's
15:24exact location.
15:2630 minutes later,
15:27Anaheim police storm
15:28into the Samoa Hotel
15:29where they find Jody
15:30with Jeff
15:31in one of the rooms.
15:32They immediately arrest Jeff
15:34and take him into custody.
15:36As the officers
15:37question him,
15:38it turns out
15:38that after visiting
15:39his uncle,
15:40Jeff drove all the way
15:41to California
15:42and took Jody
15:43to see things like
15:43Hollywood and Disneyland
15:45while keeping him
15:46locked away
15:46in a motel at night.
15:48The very next day,
15:49the police take Jody
15:50back home to Louisiana.
15:52When Gary sees his son
15:54step off that plane,
15:55he rushes over
15:56and is relieved
15:57to have him back home
15:58safe and sound.
15:59Over the next few days,
16:00he struggles with the fact
16:02that someone he trusted
16:03so deeply,
16:04someone he welcomed
16:05into his home,
16:06had kidnapped his boy.
16:08But the reality
16:09of what actually happened
16:11turns out to be
16:12far more disturbing
16:13when Jody is taken
16:14for a medical examination.
16:16The police soon
16:17informed Gary
16:18and his wife
16:18that Jeff
16:19was not the man
16:20they thought he was.
16:21The examinations
16:22of Jody's body
16:23showed that
16:24while they were
16:24in California,
16:25Jeff had done
16:26some absolutely
16:27disgusting things to him.
16:29The detectives
16:30assigned to the case
16:31interview the little boy
16:32and he tells them
16:33that Jeff had been
16:34molesting him
16:35for over a year.
16:36He was too scared
16:38to tell anyone
16:38this entire time
16:40because he did not
16:41want to lose his friend.
16:43When Gary hears this,
16:44his whole world shatters.
16:47He feels overwhelming guilt
16:49that he had put his son
16:50into such a horrible situation.
16:52But soon,
16:53this guilt
16:53turns to rage
16:55and something inside him snaps.
16:58He decides
16:58that he cannot allow
16:59this monster
17:00any opportunity
17:01to get away
17:02with destroying
17:03his son's childhood
17:04and will do
17:04whatever it takes
17:05to make sure
17:06justice is served.
17:08Jeff is charged
17:09with aggravated kidnapping
17:10and child molestation
17:12and is held
17:12in California
17:13while Louisiana authorities
17:14prepare the paperwork
17:16to bring him back
17:17to stand trial.
17:18But as the days pass
17:19and Gary waits
17:20for the criminal proceedings
17:21to begin,
17:22his rage continues
17:24to build
17:24and he soon feels
17:26that no punishment
17:27the courts could come up with
17:28would ever be enough.
17:30For days,
17:31he visits a local bar
17:32trying to drink
17:33his suffering away
17:34and one night
17:35a friend working
17:36at a local TV station
17:37happened to stop by
17:38and saw him.
17:39After making pleasantries,
17:41his friend
17:42casually mentions
17:43that his newsroom
17:44had heard
17:44that Jeff Doucette
17:45will be flown back
17:46to Louisiana
17:47on March 16th
17:48on American Airlines
17:49Flight 595.
17:51Upon hearing those words,
17:52Gary's eyes widen.
17:54He now knew
17:55exactly what he needed to do.
17:58On March 16th,
17:59Gary walks into
18:00Baton Rouge Airport
18:01disguised with a hat
18:02and sunglasses.
18:03He stands at a row
18:04of payphones
18:05in the main corridor
18:06and calls his best friend.
18:08As news crews arrive
18:09to film the return
18:10of Jeffrey Doucette,
18:12Gary keeps his head
18:13turned away
18:13from the cameras.
18:14Around 9.30 p.m.,
18:16the police escort Jeff
18:17through the airport
18:18towards the main corridor.
18:20As they near
18:20the row of payphones,
18:21Gary tells his friend
18:22who is still on the line,
18:24you're about to hear a shot
18:25and drops the receiver.
18:27In one fluid motion,
18:29he draws a revolver
18:30from his pocket,
18:32turns
18:32and fires a single bullet
18:33straight into Jeff's head
18:35as he's walking by.
18:36The police are shocked
18:38as they watch the man
18:39they were just escorting
18:40tumble to the ground.
18:42The officers rush in
18:43and grab the assassin
18:44and instantly recognize
18:45who he is.
18:46One of them screams,
18:47Gary, why?
18:49Why, Gary?
18:50As they pry the gun
18:51from his hand.
18:52Gary doesn't resist
18:53as the officers arrest him.
18:55Jeff is taken to the hospital
18:57in a coma
18:57but dies the following day.
18:59The assassination
19:00was filmed live
19:01as it happened
19:02directly in front
19:03of the local news crews
19:04at the airport
19:05and the graphic images
19:06of the execution
19:07quickly become national news.
19:09As brutal a crime
19:11as was committed,
19:12many throughout the country
19:13identified with
19:14the father's desperate
19:15quest for revenge.
19:16Gary is tried
19:17for second-degree murder
19:18but accepts a plea bargain
19:20in which he pleaded
19:21no contest to manslaughter.
19:23The judge ruled
19:23that there was virtually
19:24no risk of Gary committing
19:26any other crime
19:26so he's only given
19:28a seven-year suspended sentence,
19:30five years of probation
19:31and 300 hours
19:32of community service.
19:34He never goes to prison.
19:35When he was later questioned
19:37why he shot Jeffrey Doucette,
19:39Gary simply replied,
19:40if somebody did it
19:42to your kid,
19:43you'd do it too.
19:45San Francisco
19:46Committee of Vigilance
19:47It's 1848
19:48and a man named Sam Brannan
19:50is visiting his newly opened store
19:52in what's now
19:53modern-day Sacramento.
19:54Just a few years earlier,
19:56Brannan,
19:56a Latter-day Saint,
19:58had fled religious persecution
19:59on the East Coast
20:00and ended up in California
20:01in a tiny port town
20:03that's now known
20:03as San Francisco.
20:05In his short time
20:06on the West Coast,
20:07he had started a newspaper,
20:08a flour mill,
20:09and now had just opened
20:10his first general store.
20:12Things are going pretty good
20:13for this young entrepreneur,
20:14but little did he know
20:16that his life
20:17would soon be changed forever
20:18as a few rough-looking men
20:20entered his store
20:21looking to purchase
20:22some supplies.
20:23These men had come
20:24from Sutter's Mill
20:25up in Coloma.
20:26They pick out a few goods
20:27and bring them up
20:28to the counter to purchase.
20:29Brannan tells them
20:30what they owe
20:31and instead of handing over coins,
20:33one of the men
20:34opens a leather pouch
20:35and pours a pile of gold dust
20:37onto a scale.
20:38Brannan can't believe his eyes.
20:40Who has so much gold
20:42that they can pay
20:42for things like this?
20:43So he makes a trip
20:45to Coloma
20:45to investigate
20:46what's going on
20:47at Sutter's Mill.
20:48He speaks to some
20:49of the workers there
20:49and finds out
20:50that they've found gold
20:51in the American River.
20:53Tons of it!
20:54The men tell him
20:55there's so much gold here
20:56that all the people
20:57in California
20:57working together
20:58couldn't take it out
20:59in 50 years.
21:01Instantly,
21:02dollar signs flash
21:03in Brannan's eyes,
21:04but instead of brainlessly
21:05jumping into the river
21:06to find gold himself,
21:07he crafts
21:08what is perhaps
21:09the greatest marketing stunt
21:11in American history.
21:12Brannan returns
21:13to San Francisco
21:14and quickly begins
21:15purchasing every single
21:17pickaxe, shovel,
21:18and gold pan
21:18he can find in the area.
21:20He ships them
21:21all to his store
21:22in Sacramento
21:22and tells his employees
21:23to price these items
21:25at extreme markups.
21:26He then puts
21:27the gold dust
21:28he had received
21:28as payment
21:29into a glass bottle
21:30and steps out
21:31onto the streets
21:32of San Francisco.
21:33He holds up the bottle
21:34and loudly shouts
21:35GOLD!
21:36GOLD ON THE AMERICAN RIVER!
21:38And the townspeople
21:39near him
21:39all stop their daily routines
21:41and turn to look.
21:42He holds out the bottle
21:43and as it sparkles
21:44in the sun,
21:45he continues to shout
21:46his message
21:47over and over again.
21:48GOLD ON THE AMERICAN RIVER!
21:51Brannan's plan works
21:52and the news spreads
21:54through the town
21:54like wildfire.
21:55In a very short amount
21:57of time,
21:57nearly 75%
21:59of the men
21:59in San Francisco
22:00raced east
22:01to try to strike it rich.
22:03On their way to Coloma,
22:04they all stop
22:05at the only store
22:06with tools along the way,
22:08Brannan's General Store
22:09in Sacramento.
22:11In the first
22:12nine weeks
22:13of the gold rush,
22:14Brannan makes
22:14$36,000,
22:16an equivalent
22:17of $1.4 million
22:18today,
22:19and he quickly becomes
22:20the richest man
22:21in California.
22:22But while Brannan's
22:23marketing stunt
22:24worked out better
22:25than he could have
22:25ever imagined,
22:26it led to some
22:27unintended consequences.
22:29News of gold
22:30in California
22:31spread throughout
22:31the world,
22:32and by 1850,
22:33San Francisco
22:34had exploded
22:35from a small port town
22:36of less than
22:371,000 people
22:37to a city
22:38of over 25,000.
22:40The massive boom
22:42of fortune seekers
22:43brought unprecedented
22:44levels of crime
22:45and lawlessness,
22:46and the local government
22:47with its small police force
22:48just couldn't keep up.
22:50Gangs of thieves
22:51and murderers
22:51begin to roam
22:52the streets of San Francisco
22:54freely without any fear.
22:55The worst of these criminals
22:57are the Sydney Ducks,
22:59a ruthless gang
23:00of ex-cons
23:00from Australia.
23:01They set fires
23:02to buildings
23:03to distract the police
23:04while they loot businesses,
23:06and anyone caught
23:07in their way
23:07often ended up dead.
23:09On the rare occasions
23:10the police managed
23:11to catch them,
23:12they just bribe
23:13corrupt officials
23:13and walk out of jail
23:15scot-free.
23:15On May 4, 1851,
23:18a fire set
23:19by the Sydney Ducks
23:20burned down
23:20around 2,000 buildings,
23:22which was more than
23:23half the entire city
23:24and caused
23:25over $10 million
23:25in damages.
23:27Brandon watched
23:28that fire rip
23:29through the city,
23:29and he decides
23:30that enough is enough.
23:32On June 9, 1851,
23:34he brings together
23:35a group of well-known
23:36citizens and businessmen.
23:37He tells them
23:38that the police
23:39are worthless
23:40and that if they want
23:41the crime to stop
23:41in their town,
23:42they would need
23:42to take justice
23:43into their own hands.
23:45Everyone in attendance agrees,
23:47and so on that night,
23:48they form a committee
23:49of vigilance
23:50to take back their city
23:51from these criminals.
23:53Conveniently,
23:54this committee
23:54did not have to wait long
23:55to take action.
23:56The very next day,
23:58a member of the Sydney Ducks
23:59steals a safe
24:00from a merchant's office.
24:02The members
24:02of the newly formed
24:03vigilante group
24:04immediately track him down
24:05and hold a public trial.
24:07After finding him guilty,
24:08they hang him
24:09in front of a crowd
24:10of spectators.
24:12News of the trial
24:13and hanging
24:13quickly spreads
24:14through the city.
24:15Business owners
24:16who've had their shops looted
24:17and families
24:18who've lost loved ones
24:19to gang violence
24:20all realize
24:20they now have a way
24:22to fight back,
24:22and within weeks,
24:23the committee grows
24:24to over 700 members strong.
24:27Over the next three months,
24:28the committee hunts down
24:29every known criminal
24:30in San Francisco.
24:32They execute a total
24:33of four men
24:34and deport dozens more
24:35out of the city.
24:36The committee's extreme actions
24:38prove effective,
24:39and by September 1851,
24:41crime has dropped
24:42so dramatically
24:42in San Francisco
24:43that for the first time
24:44in years,
24:45people begin to walk
24:46the streets
24:47without fear.
24:47The committee members
24:49look around
24:50and decide
24:50their work is done,
24:51so they officially disband
24:53and hand back control
24:54to the local government.
24:55But by 1855,
24:58San Francisco
24:58is worse
24:59than it's ever been,
25:01but this time
25:02the criminals
25:02have gone from the streets
25:03to wearing fancy suits.
25:05Almost every major
25:07position of power
25:07in the city
25:08is held
25:09by corrupt elites
25:10who use their influence
25:11to protect the criminal activity
25:12of their friends.
25:14Violent crime rates
25:15skyrocket throughout,
25:16and more than 480 people
25:18are murdered
25:19within the span
25:20of a year.
25:21The police
25:21do nothing.
25:23Sick of the corruption,
25:24a man named
25:25James King of William,
25:26who, by the way,
25:27called himself that
25:28to distinguish himself
25:29from all the other
25:30James Kings
25:30in San Francisco,
25:31began printing
25:32a newspaper
25:33called the Daily
25:34Evening Bulletin
25:35and begins publicly
25:36calling out
25:37corrupt government officials.
25:39On May 4, 1856,
25:41King writes about
25:42a city supervisor
25:43named James Casey
25:44and exposes him
25:45as a convicted criminal
25:46who had once served time
25:47for grand theft
25:48before buying his way
25:49into public office.
25:51A few days later,
25:52he writes another article
25:53targeting a man
25:54named Charles Cora,
25:55a wealthy gambler
25:56who shot and killed
25:57a U.S. marshal
25:58in cold blood.
25:59King demands
26:00the immediate hanging
26:01of Cora
26:02and calls out the court
26:03for delaying his trial
26:04to protect him.
26:05Cora and Casey
26:06happen to be friends,
26:08unsurprisingly,
26:09and not enjoying
26:10the recent publicity
26:11King has been giving them,
26:12Casey decides
26:13to fix this problem
26:14for good.
26:14On May 14, 1856,
26:17James King of William
26:18is walking down the street
26:19when Casey
26:20suddenly blocks his path.
26:22Casey menacingly
26:23asks the publisher,
26:24Are you armed?
26:26And before King can respond,
26:27he shouts,
26:28Well, draw and defend yourself!
26:30and unloads a bullet
26:31directly into King's chest.
26:33King collapses
26:35onto the pavement
26:35and blood begins
26:36soaking through his clothes.
26:38Some bystanders
26:39rush him into
26:39a nearby office
26:40where doctors
26:41immediately start
26:42fighting to keep him alive.
26:44Casey is arrested
26:45and taken to jail.
26:46As word spreads
26:47of the shooting,
26:48over 10,000 people
26:49gather in the streets
26:50outside of the building
26:51that King had been taken to
26:52and murmurs begin
26:54to sweep through the crowd
26:55of a need
26:55for a second committee
26:56of vigilance.
26:58James King dies
26:59from his wound
27:00on May 20th
27:01and just two days later,
27:02shortly after his funeral service,
27:043,500 armed vigilantes
27:06drag James Casey
27:08and Charles Cora
27:09out of jail
27:09and hang them
27:10in front of the entire city.
27:12The Committee of Vigilance
27:13was back
27:14and this time
27:15it was bigger than ever.
27:17Over the next few weeks,
27:18the committee stormed
27:19through every government
27:20building in the city
27:21searching for evidence
27:22of corruption.
27:23The vigilantes find
27:24a number of rigged ballot boxes
27:25which they displayed publicly
27:27as proof of election meddling
27:28they had suspected for years.
27:30They then not so subtly
27:32convince elected officials
27:33to resign from office.
27:35In an altercation
27:36with a California
27:37state Supreme Court justice,
27:38a vigilante is stabbed
27:39in the neck
27:40and the committee
27:41takes the justice prisoner.
27:42This causes the federal government
27:44to call on a banker
27:45by the name of
27:46William Tecumseh Sherman
27:47to lead the local militia
27:49to stop the committee
27:49and their insurrection.
27:51But Sherman soon found out
27:52that most of the local militia
27:54wanted to fight
27:54for the Committee of Vigilance,
27:56not him.
27:57And so he quickly resigned,
27:59citing the whole fight
28:00as a lost cause.
28:01The committee's membership
28:03rapidly swelled
28:04and within the span
28:05of a few months,
28:06they had hanged four men,
28:07deported dozens more
28:08and had essentially
28:09taken over the corrupt
28:10local government,
28:11installing their own
28:12political party
28:13which they called
28:14the People's Party.
28:16On August 11, 1856,
28:18having cleaned up the city
28:19once again,
28:20the committee voted
28:21to disband for good.
28:22As a final act,
28:248,000 armed vigilantes
28:25dressed in uniform
28:26then paraded
28:27through the streets
28:28of San Francisco
28:28with cannons and floats
28:30as a grand farewell.
28:32The committee's People's Party
28:33continued to manage
28:34the city until 1867.
28:36Oh, and if you're wondering
28:37what happened to Sam Brannan,
28:39the first millionaire
28:39of California
28:40who started the gold rush,
28:42he was excommunicated
28:43by the Mormon Church
28:44for his participation
28:45in the first committee
28:46and later,
28:47his wife divorced him
28:48and left him penniless.
28:50Bro could've really
28:51used a prenup.
28:53Hey, just want to say
28:54thanks for watching.
28:55Chris did a great job
28:57while I was away
28:57so he'll be back
28:58and we'll be taking turns
28:59telling more epic stories
29:00from history.
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