united-states vehicle motor-vehicle russia
Would &quot;Stop a Douchebag&quot; be legal in the US? Why is it legal in Russia?
<p>In Russia, there is a movement called <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/Lomak1581" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Stop a Douchebag</a>, whose prime activities are as follows.</p>
<ol>
<li>Prevent people from driving on sidewalks.</li>
<li>Prevent double parking.</li>
</ol>
<p>The participants in this movement seem to adhere to very respectful speech. However, I am wondering whether their method would be legal in the US and why it is legal in Russia.</p>
<p>The group's punishment consists of gluing large stickers — which cannot be easily removed — on the windshields of the offenders' cars. Sometimes, offenders say something along the lines of &quot;My car is my personal property. On what grounds are you damaging my personal property?&quot;. The generic reply is &quot;Call the police if you wish and they will decide.&quot;</p>
<p>While this seems a legitimate reply, I am wondering what the legal standing of such events would be in the US. In particular, would it be legal to glue such a sticker on the windshield of someone else's car? Why is it legal in Russia?</p>

<p>It is definitely illegal in Russia as well, but the police will do nothing. </p>

<p>Previous activity of this group included forcefully attacking people who tried to speak to a girl who disliked it and handling over such people to police to get fined "for hooliganism". Usual practice in Russia is to beat the people whom the random girls around dislike. This group stepped a bit further, involving police.</p>

<p>They use illegal or questionable methods, definitely. But they use them in a manner that people would be unlikely to complain to police because they themselves either did something illegal or public opinion is not on their side.</p>

<p>The police usually will do nothing even with much more serious violations, like beating somebody.</p>

<p>In the U.S.A. we have criminal and civil liabilities. If a person parked illegally and got violent with someone who told them they were parked illegally then they would possibly be liable criminally and civilly. It would depend on how far things escalated.</p>

<p>The reason some law enforcement personnel get concerned over civilians confronting lawbreakers is that it can escalate quickly and people can get hurt. It never surprises security and law enforcement personnel how quickly things can escalate over a simple issue. I have watched several "douchebag" videos and it kind of reminded me of some of the confrontations I witnessed in the Mexican border towns where I grew up (where corruption is prevalent).</p>

<p>For the most part the douchebag people were nice. And it's a good idea in those situations to have several people, because most car drivers will usually not confront a group, but you just never know. I think the Russian government shut the group down because I believe too many of the drivers were being shown in a bad light.</p>

<p>And with the videos being seen around the world the government didn't like how their lack of traffic enforcement, civilians ready to resort to violence, etc., were being portrayed (causing them to lose tourist and business dollars).</p>
