He did state he threw the water bottle in the direction of the crowd knowingly, and he was extremely stupid to do so, but I think that is different than walking directly up to someone and punching them in the face. I view him throwing the water bottle as basically throwing a temper tantrum. He was mad they lost and wanted to let those who made him mad know he was mad, so he made a very dumb decision to chuck the bottle in their direction. It was a very immature, stupid and dangerous thing to do and he should he be allowed to walk away without paying some serious restitution. However I don't think his actions have the same malicious intent as walking up to someone and hitting them in the face. That act is 100% intended to cause harm to that person and should come with much stricture consequences.