This is about norms of behavior and Dao stepped over the line IMO. I mean the way he is clutching on to the armrest like a 2 year old. It was ridiculous. It is one of the craziest things I’ve seen a grown man do. There is just something really wrong here with his behavior.
So the 69 yo man clutched an armrest. That is his great crime.
Here’s the catch. United isn’t allowed to beat a passenger to a pulp for the ‘crime,’ of ‘clutching an armrest.’ In your world, ‘clutching an armrest,’ would be a felony, but fortunately we live in the real world.
Now, UAL kills harmless bunnies. UAL is incompetent. End of story.
He didn’t want to give up his seat which is why he was clutching the armrests. He paid for the seat and they’d have to pry his cold and dead fingers first before he goes anywhere. He paid for it and he is staying.