As I see it, here are the parties in play here:

Actual reactionary conservatives: people who don't participate in a forum like /r/fatpeoplehate or /r/coontown in order to feel edgy, but who genuinely wish to associate themselves with the sentiments and feelings expressed in these forums. People who are using these forums "as intended", in good faith, because these are their political beliefs.

These people are being straight-up attacked and are reacting as such.

Reactionary libertarians: people who don't like the idea of rules, broadly-defined, and who especially resent restrictions upon what they'd characterize as freedom of speech -- and who therefore dislike "SJWs" and "uppity feminists" and "tumblrinas", and so on. (So Ellen Pao, as a woman of colour who has sued a past employer for discrimination, is basically Satan to thse people.)

These people see the opportunity to destroy an SJW and take a stand for free speech. (And, IMO, feel sooper sooper special and edgy for sticking it to the man like an Ayn Rand hero, etc.)

Many of these people also think Reddit is on the wrong track (they still haven't "forgiven" site leadership for "censoring", say, creepshots) and are looking for anything they can wedge into a narrative about the demise of the site, administrative overreach, etc.

Channers and other trolls: people who are on the surface indistinguishable from the reactionaries, but who are involved not out of a solemn desire to advance these causes, but because they see an opportunity to cause mischief and human suffering, because it'll be lulzy.

Friends of Victoria: not necessarily personal friends, but people who have worked closely with and come to respect her, and who are saddened by a friend's firing, especially if it makes their jobs more difficult. This group is not exclusively composed of moderators, but includes thousands of people who have seen and appreciated her work in some way or another.

Useful Idiots: users who are not predisposed to support the end-goals of the Reactionary Libertarians or Actual Reactionary Conservatives, but who have gotten drawn into this fight.

It's important to understand that these people are not stupid, nor are they dishonest. ("Useful Idiot" is a Soviet-era term of art: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Useful_idiot)

These people wind up involved in the movement for various reasons. I mean, let's be honest, it feels good: "Stand up for Reddit, stand up for Free Speech, stand up for Victoria". (What do the opponents have, "LEEEAVE REDDIT ALOOOOONE"?)

The defining characteristic of this group is that, if you pull them aside and start talking to them about specific decisions and specific forums -- so you support the existance of /r/fatpeople hate? was creepshots okay? -- they often express genuine distaste or disgust.

But.

So long as they can stay zoomed out -- so long as "the Demise of Reddit and the Tyranny of Ellen Pao" is a story which floats in the air, independently of actual events or decisions -- they whole-heartedly support the movement, and don't want to get bogged down on specific considerations. Shut up about /r/thefappening, they've got important work to do!

And the key thing to understand is that, so long as the useful idiots are at a critical mass, they are both self-propagating and capable of operating independently of the reactionaries who benefit from their actions. Tens of thousands of earnest people putting their heart into their words, believing themselves to be part of this enormous social movement for uppercase-Real Change, etc. All this activity legitimizes the cause, attracts more useful idiots, and thereby keeps the movement going. For every person who twigs to the fact that they've accidentally wound up standing up for /r/fatpeoplehate, two more join the party.

Having whipped this movement up, with an inadvertant assist from the Friends of Victoria, the reactionaries now get to lie back and let their work be done for them.

(And the Channers are having a fucking ball, but you already knew that.)

I think this situation is much more complicated than just two pivotal groups. I think we're dealing with a much more fluid, overlapping and inscrutable setup, with all sorts of masks and disguises as well.