much harder. Not justifying his actions, and yes, they probably could have shot him.

I think he thought he was trying plead his case and once it got physical he reacted. Once he lifted him, he could have thrown him down, pancaked him, etc. But I think he realized when he lifted the cop, he had messed up and pulled back some. Either way he has messed up big time.

Sidebar, Malcolm Gladwell's new book Talking to Strangers covers this kind of thing and it's an interesting read (or listen if you're an audible person).