I think it was more like he was on his own side and thought everyone would be on the same page as him. You're right about them not thinking far ahead, but I can only sympathize to a point. This was months into riots across the country that have escalated and had people shooting on both sides under different circumstances for all of them. If he was going to scare people, he would not take a loaded gun. He is reported to have been shooting for years now, so he knew it was something that could happen.

In this case, being an outside participant really should have snapped him back into reality. He had to pick a side from a side he couldn't even confirm was there. He chose a pro-riot group and essentially had no recourse once he was in. This is something he should have figured out before his drive over the state line.