No, he wasn't.
Fact is, he carried his weapon the same as everyone else the whole time: strapped to the front of his body with the barrel pointed down. Exhibit A:
View attachment 576858
Same as the guy behind him.
Exhibit B:
View attachment 576859
Same as these guys:
View attachment 576862
And one more:
View attachment 576866
This one was taken the day after the verdict and as you can see, he's carrying it the same way Kyle did. And as you can also see, no one is attacking him for carrying his weapon in a, as you so melodramatically put it: extremely intimidating and provocative way.
I'm still not clear on what you're calling the "ready" position but Kyle carried his weapon the same way as everyone else all night until he was attacked, and that was only after he tried to get away from Rosenbaum first.
Yes, the day after. Shades of things to come.