What you are saying is the r****rs, the ones vandalizing, l**ting, burning, assaulting police and generally raising hell had every right to "show up", but those attempting to quell the violence - the police and those who Back the Blue - had no right at all to be there.

Do you actually believe none of the r****rs were carrying guns? Along with all other sorts of weapons - bricks, glass bottles, Molotov cocktails, pepper spray, skateboards, wasp k**ler.

Seems to me, Tom, there is no question the streets of Kenosha was teeming with perceived threats, both real and imagined, both verbal and physical.

Rittenhouse certainly perceived the r**ting as a threat, otherwise he wouldn't have carried a gun.

In the video of the first attack on Rittenhouse, shots are fired before the attacker even catches up to him, and the shots did not come from Kyle's gun.

A r****r throws a plastic bag loaded with a brick at him and goes after him, Kyle attempts to evade, hears gun fire, what was he supposed to think?

The photos here show the final attacks on Rittenhouse in which Huber was k**led and Grosskreutz, armed with a handgun, is wounded.

That is Rittenhouse on the ground.

The top photo shows an unknown assailant delivering a flying, full body, straight leg boot to Rittenhouse's face that put him on his back. Just left you can see Huber with the skateboard approaching at a run.

Next photo shows Huber smashing his skateboard into Rittenhouse's head and attempting the stupidest move one can imagine. He tries to disarm Kyle who has his finger on the trigger, the muzzle aimed directly at Huber's chest. Kyle pulled the trigger. (Would have been my choice in that situation.)

The bottom photo shows the moment when Grosskreutz approached, aimed his handgun at Rittenhouse's head, and Rittenhouse fired, blowing out the man's elbow. The spray of blood and flesh is clearly visible. To the left, Huber has collapsed and is bleeding out.

Looks like a clear case of self-defense to me.

imagine this, you are a participant in the melee on the streets, you may be unarmed or have a knife, a brick, or a skateboard, then you see a guy armed with an AR15 loaded with a 30 round mag, and that makes him a target?
A target for what, hand to hand combat? You surely wouldn't attempt to disarm him without first being prepared to use equal force.

Or, would it be prudent to back away, get the hell out of there?

Yeah, none of those thugs who got shot had a freaking brain in their heads when they went after Rittenhouse.
Grosskreutz had a gun, why didn't he use it? A friend of his visiting him in the hospital tweeted Grosskreutz told him he regretted hesitating to shoot, said he should have immediately emptied the magazine into Rittenhouse.

Kyle had no choice but to shoot the damned fool.