Video of the Day - Excessive Violence?

So I was over at Spearhead earlier and came across a story about two women jumping over the counter at a McDonalds and attacking the cashier. This cashier got his hands on what looks like a metal rod of some sort and beat them to the point that one has a fractured skull. You don't actually see the hits due to them being on the floor and behind the counter but you can hear them screaming so tread carefully. (Sorry for no embed of the video, for some reason I couldn't get the embed code to work.)

My question is this. Bearing in mind that a lot of people will say that when attacked they should fight back should he face the felony assault charges he is staring down the barrel of now? I ask this because if this were a video of an attempted male against female rape I don't think people would be so quick to charge said female no matter how violently she fought back. Should he be charged? Is this a matter of self defense? Would we react differently if the situation were reversed?

Let's talk.