30 GIULIANI AND GAGGIO v. ITALY JUDGMENT evidence from numerous witnesses and examined a wealth of audiovisual material. 122. The District Court held, inter alia, that the attack by carabinieri on the Tute Bianche marchers had been unlawful and arbitrary. The march had been authorised and the demonstrators had not committed any significant acts of violence against the carabinieri. The attack by the latter had been launched against hundreds of persons who were doing no harm, and no order to disperse had been given. The subsequent charge had also been unlawful and arbitrary. It had not been preceded by a warning to disperse, had not been ordered by the officer authorised to do so and had been unnecessary. 123. The methods deployed had also been unlawful. The carabinieri had fired tear-gas grenades at chest height, a large number of demonstrators had sustained injuries caused by non-regulation batons, and the armoured vehicles had knocked down the barricades and pursued members of the crowd along the pavement with the clear intention of causing harm. 124. The unlawful and arbitrary nature of the carabinieri's actions had justified the resistance shown by the demonstrators while tear gas was being used and during the attack on the march. Their resistance had also been warranted during the clashes which occurred in the side streets prior to 3.30 p.m., that is, up to the point at which the carabinieri had acted on the order to stop and allow the march to proceed. According to the court, the accused's actions had been a “necessary response” to the arbitrary actions of the law-enforcement officers for the purposes of Article 4 of Legislative Decree no. 288 of 1944. Article 4 reads as follows: “Articles 336, 337, 338, 339, 341, 342 and 343 of the Criminal Code [making punishable various acts of resistance against law-enforcement officers] shall not apply where the State agent or person authorised to exercise public authority caused the offence contemplated in those Articles by overstepping the limits of his or her authority through arbitrary acts.” 125. The District Court decided to forward the file to the public prosecutor's office on the ground that the statements made by Mr Mondelli and two other law-enforcement officers (to the effect that the attack had been necessary to counter the aggression shown by the demonstrators) did not match the facts. 126. After 3.30 p.m., although the demonstrators may still have felt a sense of abuse and injustice, their conduct had no longer been defensive but had been driven by a desire for revenge; it was therefore unjustified and punishable. 127. The charge ordered by police officer Lauro, which had triggered the events on Piazza Alimonda, had been neither unlawful nor arbitrary. As a result, the violent reaction by the demonstrators, which had led to the carabinieri being pursued and the jeep being attacked, could not be regarded as a defensive response.