Kyle was being chased by a mob led by Rosenbaum, a mob shouting things like "kill him". Kyle had done nothing before this except try to put out fires. So if you're in the act of committing arson and someone does not attack you, but tries to put out the fire, you don't have a right to attack them. Kyle was running away after doing nothing illegal, from people who were setting fire to other's property (Arson). When he was blocked in by the mob he turned and Rosenbaum was charging him, reaching for his weapon. In that context he had no reason to believe they just wanted to take a look at his gun. Under threat of death, he was forced to make a split-second decision. Four shots fired in 3/4 a second to stop the threat. Others were right there as well, and weren't shot, because they didn't attempt to disarm him. Kyle wasn't the aggressor. There was no reason to go for his gun, as he hadn't even attempted to fire it yet. Kyle wasn't the one breaking laws here. On the contrary, someone else in the crowd fired a shot first, which led him to believe his life was in danger. So he was being chased, threatened, shot at, and physically assaulted---for what? Trying to put out a fire that was illegally set. Those chasing him were adding crime upon crime to their spree. Rosenbaum was already recorded threatening Kyle's life for simply being in the area and standing guard. There was no reason to believe he wasn't trying to make good on his threat when he chased Rittenhouse down and tried to take his only defense against a rioting mob of people shouting for him to be killed. The law doesn't require one to allow themselves to be assaulted or killed before defending themselves especially when a mob is involved.
