“His name was chosen at random and he had been peacefully removed from the plane.”
It is not clear how “peacefully” the initial involuntary removal was.
He is on good grounds that he should never have been involuntarily removed in the first place, and I’m sure his lawyer will win that argument, and win the follow up - he had every right to reclaim his seat as the plane had not left yet and as far as I’m told his seat was still unoccupied.
The pilot has complete authority to remove anyone at any time for any reason - period. There is no excuse to defy that order.