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Brutes in America strike back in revolting crime (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

animals

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'brutes' is the definition.
('animal' can be a synonym of 'brute')

'america strike back in revolting crime' is the wordplay.
'america' becomes 'a' (common abbreviation - e.g. in organisation names).
'strike back' becomes 'mal' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'revolting' is a reversal indicator.
'crime' becomes 'sin'.
'sin' backwards is 'nis'.
'mal' put inside 'nis' is 'nimals'.
'a'+'nimals'='ANIMALS'

'in' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for animals that I've seen before include "Beastly types" , "pets maybe" , "Living things" , "Living organisms characterised by voluntary movement" , "Beasts, creatures" .)

I've seen this clue in The Hindu.
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