To add a little more to the story. The 3 officers that I had interaction with said yes, I shouldn't have flipped him off; I told them that I was stupid for doing it. The officers also all said that they would have responded precisely as I did. He was in no way justified for what he did afterwards. Remember; he gave at least two false statements to the police in the investigation.

Yes, I have kept a tight clamp on my middle finger since then.