Miguel Ángel Ríos Córdoba was 28 years old and was hitting a dog in the middle of a public roadway when two people stopped to confront him.
What began as an exchange of words in the Santa Lucía hamlet, near Fusagasugá, Colombia, escalated within seconds. The verbal confrontation turned into shoving, the shoving turned into knives, and at least two attackers stabbed him until he was left lying on the pavement. The neighbors who ran to help him could no longer do anything.
The Fusagasugá Police arrested one of those responsible on suspicion of homicide and are still searching for the second. But online, many are not calling for justice for the attackers: they are wishing them luck. One comment sums up the sentiment of thousands: “They are not killers, they are heroes”. The uncomfortable question that remains is: how far should public fury go when the law does not arrive in time?