In some cases people definitely had it coming to them but then again it's very important that the police behaves and do their job properly. They're there for OUR sake and paid for by our own tax money.
So the "citizens" can throw rocks and even molotov cocktails at the police and the police should just stand there taking the abuse? Two things:
1. Policemen are citizens too, and they have the right to self-defense like any citizen has. If you attack them
first, they have the right to defend themselves with non-lethal force if you do it with your fists, and with lethal force if you use weapons.
2. Attacking a police officer is a crime like attacking
any person, so they have not only the right but the
duty to arrest you if you attack them and if you resist, use force to arrest you.
The bottom line is that the cops are within their rights, and they are upholding the law.
Hope this helps.
SUCKMYMUSCLE