I hope he wins his appeal. The four thugs were looking for trouble. They found it.
I agree. As I'm sure he now agrees in hindsight, the father should have called the police at the outset. But the fact remains that a mob descended on this man's home and threatened his son. Any reasonable person in this day and time should assume that such a group might be armed, and their refusal to back down in the face of armed resistance sent a clear signal that they indeed might have been.
Sad that it ended this way, but the kid chose his own path when he joined a mob and went to somebody's home. I would acquit in a New York minute...