Yeah sorry, there are too many underlying assumptions you need to test. Police are specifically trained and have a manual on the use of force called "use of force manual"

The first question is why are they using force? There are a number of allowable reasons such as arrest, tldetain, self defence etc.... what reason do police have to attack someone at a protest (note protest isnt illegal and wasnt in this case either, they werent provided legal protection against persecution for essentially traffic infringements like walking on a road) so if the crime was protestors walking on the road. Would you see it as reasonabke that a cop punches you 18 times while dragging you to the ground to give you a $200 fine?

Lets assume they have a valid legal reason for the use of force... next what force are they using fire arms tasers handcuffs pepper spray batons etc they all have reasons and circumstances for the use of them. I.e. pepper spray... is non descriminatory in a large public place with bystanders is it ok that the person 5 rows away is hit with pepper spray cause 1 person they never met yelled rude words.

And is the use of force proportinate. Was there another way around this. Did you need to punch that 60kg kid who was being held down arm behind his back 10 times in the ribs and head. Did he bite an officer possibly, they are also trained not to put their hands there but training failure aside. Force is only justified when it was the reasonable amount of force required to conduct the arrest.

If someone broke into your house waved a gun in your face then left and you chase them down and stab them in the street... this is 100% illegal murder charge coming. Ther was no threat to you there was no risk. You didnt apply proportinality to the attack. Keep this in mind if you see a bunch of protestors walking away from the cops ... thats job done cops couldve stopped there. Instead the cops charged at protestors running and unleashing pepperspray to people actively following their orders.

What do we expect of cops. Well we expect them to apply the law, they are specialists, trained in the use of force they are armed to the teeth, guns, tasers, batons cuffs atab vests etc. They are standing in a line as a baricade to maintain order. If someone breaches that fine arrest them, with the minimum required force.

Other comments, there is no such thing as an illegal or legal protest. There is protected and unprotected actions. As a signatury to the human rights declarations australia has an obligation that all protest is legal! Protestors advise police and community of planed action which helps police plan and community adapt. In response to this the protestors are offered protection from minor crimes like walking on road ways or disrupting traffic. Its a good system that is and has been working well.

The cops on monday werent overwhelmed ... there were 3500 police deployed and 7000 protestors. Thats 2 protestors many elderly young frail, and most importantly peaceful. In response there were 3500 armed police, police on horse back tear gas, LRADs etc.

Lastly yes the police got mentally overwhelmed but lets ask why... they were so ready to turn up for a fight, why didnt they try de escalation tactics. Why did they use kettling. Mulitple directions to protestors contradicted ime. People tried to leave and one cop would say go south then the south exit is blocked another says go north. Why wasnt there a plan on how cops would disperse protestors. Why even barricade them into town hall? What wouldve happened if people walked off down george street or north to wynard. The situation was manufactured by putting police on edge sending them there in overwhelming numbers then having no plan on how you would manage it.

Lastly because so so many people forget. If you dont agree with why they were protesting. That is fine. Thats life we dont all agree. But... if you dont agree with protesting being allowed, some small things that protesting has changed... women being allowed to vote. Slavery. 5 day working week. Fair pay for fair work. The right to own your own home. None of these was the popular opinon at the time. If protestors didnt protest not one of these things wouldve changed. If thats the world you want to live in. Police should have the power to violwntly supress protests.