I do not intend to attempt a defense of all police actions that night.
I just think it is silly to expect the cops to know then what we know now.
Hindsight is not really needed. They KNEW they were looking for one guy and saw him drive away. They had thousands of cops looking for one skinny guy. Incredible overkill and overreach. If you are saying there was potential for other accomplices and unknowns etc. Of course. That is what police deal with every day and they do with far less than a thousand police army.
And I think it's silly to excuse brutally trampling civil rights under the rubric of "police safety" when they know they have overwhelming force on their side.
If cops what their "safety" guaranteed: go become a hairdresser.