Going back to Butcher's original reaction to watching the Weev interview video: WTF?! You wouldn't even sit next to this guy on a bus. Why did they take him seriously?
But it's true! Even just a casual investigation into his history would reveal that this guy is seriously dangerous and if you associate with him it's going to blow back and hit you in the face hard.
Maybe it's because in his court case he had the backing of respected organisations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
It's the liberal American faith in Free Speech. Sunlight is the best disinfectant and all that.