In article <UfCdnWUpm5rL7OaiU-KYiA@comcast.com>,
>Lynchings of randomly picked people was always rare- most people who were
>lynched were guilty, and generally of a despised crime of some sort.

   If by 'despised crime' you meant talking back to a white man, looking 
at a white women, etc. then sure.  But if you mean 'rape, murder, general 
mayhem' then I disagree.  

[Snip]
>The last lynching in Colorado was in the late 20's; a white man who shot a
>man down after words were exchanged. The dead man was unarmed, and they took
>the shooter out and hanged him from a lamppost.
>Just seemed like a good idea at the time, I guess.

   Ahh, mixing the lynching into one group, sorry my bad.  I think most 
people would make a distinction between 'lynching' and vigilantism.  
In the common usage lynching are undeserved, while vigilantism may or may 
not be right (legal is another matter).