The man who allegedly punched a police horse outside a Philadelphia Eagles 2018 playoff game is suing the team and police ... claiming he was brutally beaten by cops for NO REASON.
And he's adamant he did NOT intentionally punch that horse.
The man behind the suit is Andrew Tornetta ... who was arrested Jan. 21 outside Lincoln Financial Field in Philly before the Eagles crushed the Vikings in the NFC Championship.
At the time, cops said Tornetta punched a police horse with a closed fist TWICE while mounted officers were attempting to break up a violent tailgating situation.
But, Tornetta says the allegations are horse crap ... claiming he was innocently hanging out when the mounted cops rode up on him, grabbed him and started dragging him.
In the lawsuit, Tornetta says at least two cops unsheathed their batons and began beating him multiple times -- and he suffered serious injuries to his back, skull and face.
Tornetta says cops then provided a misleading statement to investigators -- saying he punched the horse -- when in fact, he never intentionally struck anyone ... human or equine.
On top of the injuries, Tornetta says he was "demonized on social media and internet sites reporting upon his assault on police and his cruelty towards an animal."
Tornetta is suing the two cops involved (a State Trooper and a Philly PD officer) and the Eagles organization -- claiming the security officers weren't properly trained.
As for the criminal case, Tornetta was charged with resisting arrest, failure to disperse and disorderly conduct -- but all the charges were later dropped after he completed 12 hours of community service.