Getting badgered into doing something that you are uncomfortable doing is never good. Peer pressure and mob mentality should not be your motivation. These people who are badgering you and trying to make you feel guilty are not being good people themselves.
You should do what you feel comfortable doing, Don't do things because it makes them feel comfortable. They obviously have no concern for your feelings at all. They are the ones' being selfish, not you.
MSM will cover for him and make up a bunch of excuses.
That's about as stupid as when there is more of a fine for hitting a construction worker with your car than if you hit a regular pedestrian with your car. You are putting a higher price tag on one person's life over another person's. Are criminals really going to stop and think, oh, wait, if I kill a cop over killing another person, I'm going to get a stiffer sentence? Probably not. So what's the point?