That's...an interesting viewpoint. Of course, nobody has ever seen the Phantom Thieves themselves in person. Well, not knowingly, anyway.

[Just. Going to pointedly ignore that it's obvious he already knew about Akira.]

And the public certainly seems to see it...somewhat differently. They regarded the Thieves being the downfall of a criminal who had actively eluded the police for quite some time to be a sign of our failing. It was quite bad for their faith in our abilities.