One of the chief characteristics of a mob is its quickness. It is sudden. It pounces.

In countries with a properly functioning legal system, the mob continues to exist, but it is rarely called upon to mete out capital punishment. The right to take human life belongs to the state. Not so in societies where weak courts and poor law enforcement are combined with intractable structural injustices.

Punitive murder by the police and by vigilantes has existed in all societies at some point, and probably still exists in most.

Teju Cole Quotes