Yeah, I agree, I have some sympathy as well. For all his misadventures leading up to the incident, I suspect the incident itself was extremely distressing for him, and potentially made him feel very guilty, plus the lengthy and ferocious aftereffects. That sort of emotional strain could easily lead people to erratic behaviour, aggression, and violence. When he finds he's public enemy #1 with half of America and lionised by the other, and it is obvious to see why someone in emotional turmoil and under attack would so enthusiastically embrace the Confederate flag waving gun nuts calling him a hero.He was obviously traumatized. I'm not even kidding, Zimmerman's situation was far from easy. Woulda shoulda coulda applies of course; he should've left Martin alone that night.
I suspect a similar situation with Kyle Rittenhouse. Shooting someone is quite a crossroads in one's life. The path where someone offers to absolve your guilt and call you a hero is arguably much more attractive than the path where you feel bad because you did a really shitty thing. So I figure chances are he'll go deep into the world of right wing poster boy, too.