We linked to a piece about the Israeli police this morning. It's not a good idea to assault Israeli police.
Civilization - civilized behavior - is a thin veneer. At the extremes, if we aren't armed, all we have is the thin blue line. I happen to be armed at home. I can legally carry, but I don't bother. I believe I can not legally carry in NY State anyway and Mrs. BD and I do love visiting NYC. Plus 2 of our kids live there quite happily.
I don't know the details of NYC police protocol, and I am not saying that these guys should have been shot (maybe), but should they have been tased and roughed up at the very least? As a relatively law-abiding citizen, I do not expect to put up with this behavior. It could be police, or it could be me.
Would not bother me at all if the cops had shot the bad guys. What good would jail do? In Rikers, you'd get macho points, respect, for assaulting a police officer.
NYPD officers assaulted in 3 incidents in as many days as 2 accused attackers freed without bail over prosecutors’ objections