President Rodrigo Duterte said Friday night the cop who rammed a police vehicle into demonstrators at the United States Embassy in Manila looked like was trying to save himself.

“They might gang up on him and acted on his instinct of self preservation," Duterte said in a news briefing in Davao City .

Duterte was referring to Police Officer 3 Franklin Kho of the Manila Police District, who was caught on video mowing several militants. His superiors claimed he was trying to extricate himself and the vehicle from protesters.

It seems Kho has no intention of killing anyone as he was only driving the vehicle forward and backward, said Duterte. "I am not justifying it. Maybe he was under stress," he said.

At least 57 policemen and demonstrators were injured during the melee.

Duterte said he plans to talk with Kho. "I plan to talk the police officer, invite him for coffee."

He also want to talks to the militants and find out what happened. Duterte stressed he does not want future incidents where police officers and demonstrators are hurt during protests

He stressed he does not want any police officers or protesters hurt during such demonstrations, adding police officers should not carry firearms during protests.

"I don't want protesters throwing rocks at policemen and policemen swaggering and beating people. I don't want these things happening in my administration," said Duterte. Emmanuel Tupas/DMS