"[T]he two united factions demanded that the city prefect release the prisoners, setting fire to the Praetorium when he did not. The fire spread and others were set the next day, even though Justinian had announced additional races, a gesture that only emboldened the rioters, who set fire to the Hippodrome itself.
"Now the resignation of three unpopular ministers was demanded, those who were perceived to be responsible for Justinian's refusal to release the prisoners, to which the emperor conceded. When this did not mollify the crowd, a force of Goths was dispatched, but the insurrection could not be surpressed and there were more fires, which spread throughout the city, including the church of St. Sophia, which "collapsed entirely on all four sides"
So, a fire burned much of the city. Who knows how many innocent people died? But were the demos horrified at the result? No, they lit more fires, until the majority of the city of half a million people was destroyed.
Even so, Justinian attempted neither justice, nor vengeance, but appeasement. He gave in to the demands of the demos, but could not quest their bloodthirstiness.
"Finally, on Sunday, January 18, Justinian went to the imperial box, Gospels in hand, and acknowledged his errors, promising to redress the grievances of the populace and pardon the rioters. But they were not to be pacified and acclaimed Hypatius, another nephew of Anastasius, as ruler."
Now for some context, as to whose the abominable demos were, and what they were willing to kill so many innocent Romans over:
Persia had expanded to the point where it was capable of cutting off Rome's trade with China, which it had come to be over-reliant on, so Rome went to war to block further expansion of Persia. That Rome fought an expensive war was not new. But bad crop years had hit much of the empire (this was not yet the Justinian Cold Period), and cut-off trade hurt tradesman, so he relied more on demos than he had in the past. Perhaps more significantly, he also drastically cut the civil service, which had grown into a bloated bureaucracy populated by demos. Worst still to them, Justinian had initiated a series of legal reforms which would have limited the demos' authority to arbitrarily abuse and repress the plebes. So the demos revolted. (The immediate trigger was the issuance of death penalties to murderous rioters.)
No, it doesn’t.
The demes were chariot team supporters, not “bureaucrats”.
Justinian was a tyrant, and he did what tyrants do. Period.