Which is actually retarded 100%, because the 2nd amendment is not the right for you to peacefully own a gun and chill with it in a gun range. Not that this means anything to people that literally want political opponents to die.
Also, Kristi Noem is literally trying to pivot to the storm at every turn, the optics sure seem to be going great.
It ultimately doesn't matter whether the interpretation is right or wrong because the reaction occurred anyway.
That guy likely was of the mindset that he wasn't simply protesting the removal of illegals. His perspective was that of resisting tyranny or some such, which is a more noble reason to bring a gun. It was probably
the reason. However, the people mocking his death are those who perceive it was the former.
Meaning is given emphasis by action. The left legitimised their belief that I.C.E and the current government are gestapo and fascists via their own actions which the right-wing disagree on, obviously. Not necessarily because they are pejoratives, but because the arguments supporting those things are only given strength by subscribing to a fundamentally different worldview.
The other aspect which is being mocked here is the performative aspect. That guy likely didn't bring a gun with the intent to kill anybody, but the signal he
would is meant to be an implicit threat to his opponents and symbolise his willingness to fight against tyranny. It's the widely accepted (even if it's only implicit) purpose of the 2nd amendment. So him using the gun as a prop, essentially, emphasises the pathetic nature of his death whilst also making it easier to ignore the outrage over it happening at all.
This is going to sound like a fedpost, but him dying without actually living up to what the gun represents just overwrites the intent of bringing it at all, which is also why the left will disregard he brought one in the first place.
The tyrants he was there to "resist" just killed him and the likelihood his unwilling "martyrdom" will actually do anything just renders it pointless. Martyrs are martyrs because their death prompted action. It's hard to imagine this guy's will. You know how "winners write history"? Well, this guy's death, in the long-term, is going to be de-facto decided by the right-wing. The probable inaction to it from the left-wing is going to make the narrative uncontested: he died to prevent the deportation of illegals.
There'll be an internal narrative within certain spheres, obviously, but the wider public's reaction will ultimately be decided by the inaction of the angrier side versus the haphazard attitude of enthused mockers and the contentious circumstances around it.