Vigilantes Among Us: David Noll
August 14th, 2025
”People need to recognize that resistance works.”
We discuss the long history of vigilante democracy in the US and its return in our current politics. The playing field is currently tilted in favor of these vigilante policies, but blue states can level the playing field by playing constitutional hardball. David reminds us that the American people have beat back movements to use vigilante power to enforce a reactionary agenda time and again.
David Noll is the co-author of Vigilante Nation: How State-Sponsored Terror Threatens Our Democracy. He’s also the Associate Dean for Faculty Research and Development and a professor of law at Rutgers Law School, as well as an academic fellow of the National Institute for Civil Justice.
Your civic action toolkit recommendations from David are:
Get involved in local politics
Resistance works and there are a lot of opportunities to resist authoritarianism
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Credits:
Host: Mila Atmos
Guest: David Noll
Executive Producer: Mila Atmos
Producer: Zack Travis