I feel somewhat similar. Since I am using Linux, they ultimately were trying to break the security of my computers. If I do that with any company without their consent, I can easily end up in jail.
Ps: I have put security researcher in quotes because this kind of thing is not security research, it's a publicity stunt.
No they weren't. They made sure the bad code never made it in. They are only guilty of wasting peoples time.
How about you think about what they just proved, about the actors that *actually* try to break the security of the kernel.