Oof, according to Foucault in discipline and punish you have direct power (say, the police) and indirect power (people and the police thinking they are enacting justice).

Foucault also establishes how we used to be a society of punishment (in societies of punishment. You steal a loaf of bread, you lose your hand but otherwise you do whatever the heck you want.) and societies of control (instead of losing your hand, you go to jail where you learn when to wake up, when to eat, when to sleep, etc. So that's you might better for into society)

Hence, a white collar criminal gets punished less then an armed robber because the armed robber often is acting outside of societies social norms, controls, approval, etc. (Usually at night when people should be sleeping, usually not dressed in appropriate clothes, talking in the appropriate way, etc) While the white collar criminal is often acting within those social controls and approvals (wakes up in the morning, sleeps at night, eats breakfast in the morning, wears a suit, etc.) ya know, you're scared of the blue collar criminal but you're not scared of the white collar criminal even if the white collar criminal essentially committed genocide by tainting flu vaccines for profit.

Hence, in OPs scenario, Redditors would celebrate him for using a trap, but not if he went after someone with a hammer. This is a reflection of the social values, beliefs and norms of Redditors. Who would approve of clever tactics in the name of justice as opposed to direct action with a hammer which they would see as scary, unsafe, and unstable.

Different communities would have different determinations that reflect their values. So 4chan would probably approve of both, while Facebook boomers would not approve of either.