If the kids had weapons or if they started to break in the house I'm sure he would have tons of support.
Sounds to me like the race card backfired. If his attorney had presented him as a scared father rather than a poor black man scared of the KKK it may have turned out differently.
I didn't read one thing in the story that made me believe the father was scared. Pi$$ed off, yes.
The father has a loaded .32 Beretta. His son has a shotgun. They had 20 minutes before the teens arrived to decide what to do. They chose confrontation.
They did not call 911, but instead chose to go outside. There were five teens, but the teens were unarmed. White pointed his gun 3" from the teens face with a round in the chamber, hammer cocked, and his finger on the trigger.
According to witnesses, the teen slapped the gun away from his face, White re-centered the gun and then pulled the trigger. That's first degree murder.