I don't want this to be seen as excusing this behavior or justifying it, so let's get that on the table right away.
In some cases, they may be well aware of the consequences & just not care. I went through a phase in my early teens where I might have done things like this if it was a possibility. I grew up in a home where rules were arbitrary and basically boiled down to one thing: whatever I did or didn't do was wrong. My friends were all bad people and I was forbidden from seeing them. Their parents were all irresponsible people and I was forbidden from sleeping over at their houses. Mom fell asleep on the couch and I turned the TV off; I was treating her like a child and disrespecting her. Mom fell asleep on the couch and I didn't turn the TV off; I was wasting electricity. If I fell asleep on the couch with the TV on I needed to learn some respect for other people who had to sleep in the same house with all that damn noise. You get the idea.
I acted out because nobody cared about how I felt, so why should I care about anyone else? I wish mandatory reporting was a thing back when I came to school with a red handprint on my face. As a pre-teen, I wanted to be the one making other people suffer for a change. Consequences didn't matter because I was already guilty of something, so why not have a real reason for it, have some fun along the way.
Again, this doesn't mean there shouldn't be consequences for this behavior. But we should consider that some of these misanthropes are themselves victims of abuse looking for some sense of power or control in life and find ways to get them help.
In some cases, they may be well aware of the consequences & just not care. I went through a phase in my early teens where I might have done things like this if it was a possibility. I grew up in a home where rules were arbitrary and basically boiled down to one thing: whatever I did or didn't do was wrong. My friends were all bad people and I was forbidden from seeing them. Their parents were all irresponsible people and I was forbidden from sleeping over at their houses. Mom fell asleep on the couch and I turned the TV off; I was treating her like a child and disrespecting her. Mom fell asleep on the couch and I didn't turn the TV off; I was wasting electricity. If I fell asleep on the couch with the TV on I needed to learn some respect for other people who had to sleep in the same house with all that damn noise. You get the idea.
I acted out because nobody cared about how I felt, so why should I care about anyone else? I wish mandatory reporting was a thing back when I came to school with a red handprint on my face. As a pre-teen, I wanted to be the one making other people suffer for a change. Consequences didn't matter because I was already guilty of something, so why not have a real reason for it, have some fun along the way.
Again, this doesn't mean there shouldn't be consequences for this behavior. But we should consider that some of these misanthropes are themselves victims of abuse looking for some sense of power or control in life and find ways to get them help.