It's madness to act like this was some form of compassion or extreme empathy.
Reacting to a woman being sexually assaulted by random acts of retributory violence towards someone of the same race (or nationality, or religion) as the perpetrator has nothing to do with compassion, or the woman's feelings. It doesn't ensure justice or make this or any other women safer.
It's pure, violent, toxic rage and usually directed towards a group that's a minority or at some other disadvantage. It's characteristic of male-dominated societies who barely register their women as human, but react viciously and indiscriminately towards any violation of their honour. How the woman actually feels about this is secondary (at best) to the male's right to express his fury by maiming or killing someone who has no personal connection or culpability to the assault. It's why even the rumour of a black man raping a white woman in the old South would oblige all black men to go into hiding while the Ku Klux Klan went out riding looking for retribution.
And it's not enough to effectively say 'yes, I felt like this, and I acted on this, but luckily I didn't hurt anyone and I regret it very much'. Telling a story like this (at a press junket promoting your latest revenge fantasy movie) demonstrates a deep, oblivious sense of self-importance and entitlement, like you are to be lauded for your honesty and thanked for your change of heart and it's all about your personal journey.
What about every single person who crossed Neeson's path that night, just students and parents and police officers and bar staff and your son out walking the dog, who unwittingly were at the risk of having the shit kicked out of them for absolutely no reason? What about people who still deal with that every day, because they're part of a visible minority and are easily targeted when some bloke decides on a bit of collective punishment?
It's not okay just because he regrets it, especially in the context of that promotional interview where he claims that seeing violent vengeance enacted on screen, over and over, sates people instead of stoking up their own revenge fantasies and normalizing the concept.
If his friend had been hit by a car, would we have been okay with him driving up and down the motorway for a week, blind drunk and hoping to hit someone, because fuck those car-driving bastards? If his friend had been assaulted by a police officer, would we be understanding (it's okay, because he regrets it) with him walking the streets hoping to catch a police man or woman's eye and beat them senseless for being in the wrong place with the wrong uniform?
Just because someone says they regret something doesn't mean we can't continue to be revolted by their behaviour, especially when we see it happening again and again in society.