Depends on what you mean by “initiate a confrontation”. If I walk up to you and say “hey buddy! I don’t much care for the way you dress yourself!” and you physically attack me, knock me to the ground and beat me about the head and face, am I not justified in using force to stop your attack? Did I “have it coming”?
Is that what happened in this case? Would it not be prudent to keep the discussion to the issue instead of contriving an apple to compare to an orange?