It was about the person who threw the chair, the other who threw a bottle at a ref(what was the point in that? how can u blame that on Artest?) the morons who absolutely doused the Pacers and security with beer, food and other items, and the jackass who was punching Fred Jones, an attempted peacemaker, in the back of his head.
...NONE of which would have happened if Artest wouldn't have retaliated the way he did.
Was all of the other behavior you listed wrong? YES. It's tragic it couldn't have been avoided.
Wasn't Artest just laying there on the table smiling until some idiot pelted him with a beer? I don't see the justification for the idiot who did that.