Brutality is a matter of degree but to apologize for it in any way is nuts. Whether a citizen is beaten or killed is inexcusable in any country that purports to uphold freedom of speech. In Iran, religious justification is given by the state. Not yet in the US.
Daley's mobsters could have easily killed someone if not injured them badly to the point beyond physical rehabilitation. This certainly happened in the case of the Freedom Riders in the attainment of Civil Rights.
The US has no compunction about the slaughter of thousands of Iraqis or other innocents in Afghanistan. ( We kill them there so we won't have to kill them here.) Otherwise, like Iran, we torture people.
It's all crazy and inexcusable regardless of the degree in which violence is employed.