Where did this say he was flying first class or that he got a free ticket?
Some of us do read more than excerpts on FR.
***First class passenger*** ‘hit on the head with wine bottles’ to subdue him as flight is forced to return to the US
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/07/07/first-class-passenger-hit-head-wine-bottles-subdue-flight-forced/
“A probable cause statement written by FBI special agent Caryn Highley said Hudek was sitting in the first row of the Boeing 767’s first-class section.”
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/delta-passenger-broke-wine-bottle-over-mans-head-fbi-says/
As for the injured passenger:
“ein weiterer Passagier wurden mit zum Teil schweren Gesichtsverletzungen in ein Krankenhaus gebracht.”
https://www.tag24.de/nachrichten/seattle-peking-delta-airlines-flugbegleiterin-zieht-volle-weinflasche-ueber-kopf-von-passagier-289003
Don’t know about free but he was using a family perk.
snip
According to a criminal complaint released Friday, Hudek — who was traveling in first class
on a dependent travel pass, a perk afforded to family members employed by the airline —
attempted to open the forward exit door on the right side of the airliner.