Okay, I can accept that. And had Gerfast stopped at asking him to stop, there would have been no problem. He instigated a physical altercation. That's where he took it too far.
But, on another note, I'm not sure using profanity makes someone "less than a man". Rude? Yes. A wuss? Nah.
Perhaps, but he showed that he was a real man by pleading guilty and taking his punishment.
Whatever happened to the notion that one shouldn't disturb the peace? The cell-phone guy was upsetting many people, and management would probably have done nothing about it.