Street Justice, Brazilian Style

Picture it: you’re riding your motorcycle through the city when a guy steps out with a gun, waves it in your face, and takes the bike. Rides off. In Germany, if he ever got caught at all, he’d probably walk away with a suspended sentence. In Brazil, apparently, things get resolved differently.

The video that circulated in 2013 shows exactly what that resolution looks like, and it’s not something you’d describe as measured or proportionate. It’s fast and brutal and deeply uncomfortable in the way that street justice always is—even when the target pointed a loaded gun at a stranger’s face over a motorcycle. There’s a reflex in most of us that wants to cheer. There’s a slightly more considered part of us that recognizes we probably shouldn’t.

Not for the faint-hearted. Then again, neither is having a gun waved at your face on a Tuesday morning.