If you live in a big city and can pick from a bunch of disciplines, I'd say either muay thai or K-1 kickboxing for striking and either wrestling (folkstyle or greco-roman), judo or BJJ for grappling
If the only gyms in your area are regular ol' boxing gyms that's still a very good way to train, same goes for kyokushin karate specifically (can't recommend the other types of karate for learning self-defense)
That was a crazy moment, wasn't it. The worst interpretation possible is that the fascism inherent to liberal ideology is always lurking beneath the surface and ready to boil over. The best possible interpretation is that they're feckless idiots and the right wing will eat them alive.