Yes, criminals are a constituency for the Left.
They create jobs for social workers, lawyers, judges, community organizers, etc.
That is one of the reasons they advocate unilateral disarmament for law-abiding citizens and become frothingly hysterical when a criminal is killed by his intended target.
As you noted, criminals are considered by the Left to be victims of society. [Similar to how they consider Islamic terrorists to be victims of America.] Law-abiding citizens are supposed to be passive victims. It is especially hoped that a pretty young Caucasian female will be savaged by a perpetrator who was born into a Designated Victim group.
Then we are supposed to wring our hands at what society must have done to make the perp do something so desperate. The publicity of a small young person with a bright future being subject to an horrible death at the hands of an ‘hopeless’ goon is supposed to motivate us to seek “root causes” and to find “positive alternatives” to robbing, raping and murdering.
Having a criminal offed instead messes all of that up.
Yes, you’re on target there.
Look at Kate Stynal (sp? last name?) in San Francisco.
The homeless illegal alien killer was the real victim to the Leftists. Notice how they tried to blame the guy who left his backpack in a locked car.
Most folks recognize that breaking into a vehicle is a crime. Not the Leftists. Why it was the car owner’s fault.
B. S. 100%