I don't think the comment was justifying or romantisizing gangsters but said it would not whitewash crimes against society and the fallacy of classifying everyone in a group, any group, as being all the same. We are not. Look what some say about The Villages. Are we all the same? It was a matter of fleshing out the argument.

Don't over-generalize
 

As I observed, that is a nice Liberal position, but when you say "any group" you have gone too far. As previously noted, there are outlaw motorcycle clubs that require a probate to demonstrate the commission of a crime, witnessed by other members, before he can be Fully Patched. Accordingly, all Fully Patched members of the club are criminals and can be classified as criminals.

At the high school I attended there was a "non-virgins" club, with obvious qualifications for membership. I think there are certain assumptions that can be made about all the members.

Some of the Angels I knew could be very nice. Some were very intelligent and could be interesting to talk to away from the gang. Many of them could and did kind, decent things when it suited them. Even so, ALL of them were in fact criminals to one degree or another. They ALL were willing to be violent when deemed necessary or expedient. Doing nice things such as giving to charities, doing Toys for Tots runs, helping a motorist in distress does not mean you can't be vicious, dangerous and downright cruel the rest of the time. The reality is that outlaw gang members really and truly are bad guys and you'd be very unwise to think otherwise.