They haven't ruined their lives; their lives are ruined because people want to make political scapegoats out of them. Why? Because reasons and hate. Neither one is a hero or a villain. They are just two guys who found themselves in bad situations and had the means to get out of them.They were out to beat his ass because he was running around the streets gunning people down.
It amuses and horrifies me that the pathetic, sad white guys like Ghostie and Mormon Bob want to praise people like Zimmerman and Rittenhouse who use violence in a way they are too cowardly to do themselves. They feel helpless in a world that is changing, no longer enjoying the white male privilege their parents and grandparents enjoyed.
Forget these men who have lived your dream have ruined their own lives as much as the people they murdered. Sure, they slipped past the court system, but what happens next. Zimmerman can't get a job and he's in hiding to this very day. Rittenhouse is finding no university, not even a half-ass online racket, wants any part of him.
It sounds a lot like you wish they had just allowed their attackers to kill them.