Ah come on. They were families who wanted to not see their kids die from starvation. Maintaining at least decent relations with the Empire was the only way the majority of families on Balmorra were going to survive. Zenith shouldn't be blaming them, he should be blaming the Republic.
That's just the way Zenith is. He's a jerk. I love him, but his idea of being "nice" is not shooting to kill.