If you replace “forces” with “tempts” then you would have a correct statement.
How was it however that they could mount an effort to murder a bully and yet not change out their sheriff?
Many rural counties are run by someone like Boss Hogg, who was a TV caricature of the local elite in rural America. Perhaps they are not as corrupt as, say, Chicago, but they have vested interests that they will protect. It is difficult to throw the established power structure, whether in a rural county or in Washington, DC. So killing the bully may have been the only feasible option for the residents of the community.