"...but in my post #9 to Congressman Billybob, I conceded that the driver may have done something criminal and threatening to the cops."
For all we know this undercover agent jumped on the hood of the car and began firing because they refused to comply with his commands. Folks all over the nation are getting tasered for the same thing. Then as Bell was trying to throw him off the car he collided with the unmarked van that was full of other undercover agents that jumped out and began firing away themselves.
The one thing we do know, they had no guns. So we are left with the undercover agents claim that he tried to run him over...using the car as a deadly weapon.
I'll say this, that is a pretty agile agent that can be nearly run over by a car and then still be able to jump on the hood and began firing away. Obviously he wasn't hurt or impaired in anyway by the car. That tells me Bell was determined to escape the scene and the undercover agent was hell bent on stopping him even if it meant killing him and everyone in the car.
Bell's only crime thru-out this whole ordeal was failure to comply with the commands of someone he wasn't sure was a cop.
One can not imagine what it is like to have adrenaline pumping through your arteries and circumstances demanding split second decisions over life and death issues. Most of these "police brutality" stories are just that. A combat experience in civilian guise is the only way to describe it.
They occur in the face of imminent danger where the life or death decision may apply to you as well as others.
Not a job I would want, but I do honor the people who are able to do this as well as can be humanly done. If the police over reacted it makes sense considering the circumstances they were in. There is no way to change it now except say they were sorry and move on.