Take a close look at the video. If the man was advancing on Drejka, getting ready to kick or punch him, that would be one thing.
But Drejka fired at the man as the man was backing away, That’ll get you convicted by a white jury, a black jury, or a polka-dotted jury.
Neither of those are illegal or criminal acts. Yet. Nor did they justify Drejka being attacked physically. The assailant's continuing unlawful behavior after his assault on Drejka to my knowledge was never questioned at trial.
I don't buy the media's assertion that the assailant was "backing away". "Backing away" is not the same thing as "running away", which is what you would do if someone threatened to shoot you. What would "backing away" accomplish? Nothing.
More likely, he was challenging Drejka or even goading him or getting into position to strike again. You'd have to be certifiably insane to fire at a retreating target and I don't believe for a second that is what happened.
The black assailant, a much larger and younger man, had the drug Ecstacy in his veins (found at autopsy). The assailant in fact committed assault and battery in addition to driving under the influence of a drug. Drejka, prior to being assaulted, posed no physical threat to anyone.
Drejka's legal defense was pure garbage. Incompetent. I hope this conviction gets vigorously appealed, as it needs to be. Otherwise we will end up with two sets of laws. One for them. And one for us.