You’re right, both sides aren’t the same. One side has devolved into foregoing what we like to think of as humanity because they have a boner for hate and the other makes excuses on why degrading themselves to the same level isn’t the same.

It’s a play on words. I’ll skip the nuances and get right down to the core, “they started murdering people, so I’m murdering them back”. But here’s the thing, killing is still killing, even in self-defense. No matter how many justifications, running away from this concept only serves to bring you ever closer to the mentality of the other side.

The very simplified “both sides” is alluding to the idea that both are very much willing to give up empathy, ethics and law if it means getting rid of the opposite side. The selective application of these three concepts is what bridges you together in a way that makes an outside observer say “so similar, they might as well be the same” a.k.a. “both sides”.

No exception to empathy, no exception to ethics, no exception to law, no matter how saintly and no matter how evil.