I never said he was a martyr, because I didn’t disclose my definition of the term.
It was entirely appropriate for Joe to fight back. The mob that came to kill him had no legal authority and was in fact violating a guarantee of safety by the governor. They were a gang of murderers, and I don’t believe anything Christ said could be construed to mean that a Christian was not supposed to defend himsel against murderers.
As far as History goes, it depends on your definition of martyr, as I said initially. But a good many Catholics (and Protestants) consider many of those who were killed by the other side during the various religious wars of early modeern times to have been martyrs. A good many of these people were captured while in arms against their foes before their murders.
But Mormons revere him as a martyr.