Best Answer: Yes spitting on someone is an assault and you do have the right to defend yourself against any assault, but this would probably be an easy instance of the use of excessive force if you retaliated. Spitting on someone is considered to b assault in most states. I don't know the law concerning this, but seems that hitting them would be self-defense. But then it wouldn't be assault to do that! A lot depends on the individual police officer who handles the situation.