While he admitted that he had seen violence towards police officers from partygoers, Hanman said this had only begun in a response to the force’s initial aggression.
“Towards the end, yes, people were throwing stuff at them [the police], but that was not until they were hitting people, attacking people,” he said.
In one case in particular, he said he had seen officers “hit this guy with a baton, even when he was on the floor”.
“Yes, people were taking drugs, yes, people were drunk, but that doesn’t mean beat them up,” he said.
“Any human in their right mind can see that it was just not called for.”