this is a really gross false equivalence. an expectation that someone has to be a flag waving nazi before you take a hate movement seriously is insanity. EVS being able to say that all he's doing is making a comic about a robot frog is how he's able to get his hate movement legitimacy, but it doesn't make it any less of a hate movement.
and yes, to your point, that kind of strategy is absolutely going to get innocent people to fall into your trap. Lee is absolutely a victim in this circumstance, as well. but he also bears some responsibility in this. EVS is the piece of shit at the center and Lee owes it to himself and to his fans to be actively and vocal in rejecting that hate creed and denouncing the work he did for him.
I think Lee has a right to his privacy. I saw he put a IG post up but that seems to be even managed by his wife as well. His email is a fucking AOL one for chrissakes.
Maybe he doesn't want to apologize to people who are attacking him out of nowhere?
Edit:
And also, again, this is started by a dude who worked for the fucking CIA in Iraq.
I'm going to follow up with my own EVS experience. I went to my first Wondercon and he was there, maybe in 2009? He was doing Flash Rebirth and I liked his art so I went up to his booth in Artist Alley. He was nice and I bought a sketchbook from him. But soon afterwards (way prior to Comicsgate), I learned how much of a prick he was. And when CG popped up, I threw that sketchbook in the trash.
But if a large mass of people got aggressive and started threatening my livelihood at the time of my purchase, I don't think I would have reacted very well either.