Were able to leave the plane unharmed.
Officers beat man unconscious and drag him off plane in bloody mess.
One would think, in a post 9-11 world, that the attacking officers would be beaten by passengers. One wonders why this did not occur.
I see several things:
1. The officer doing the beating should be sued…no “professional immunity”.
2. The officers that were with him, who stood by and did nothing, should be fired for failing to stop a crime in progress….specifically battery and/or assault.
3. Once I am issued a boarding pass and seated. That is my seat. You can deny me a boarding pass and therefore a seat, and rebook me on another flight…but once I am seated, the contract (ticket) is in force. (yeah I know, Obeying the “legal orders of a flight crew”…but that is valid only once the airplane has left the terminal, so not valid here) United owes this guy BIG compensation for their actions. If not forthcoming voluntarily, then through the court system.
But, again, why did the passengers allow some guy with a badge to beat a man unconscious for refusing to vacate a seat he had paid for and been assigned? Why was the man with a badge not stopped…with force, if necessary? There were plenty of passengers who could have, at least, blocked the aisles and called for State police or other law enforcement.
Allowing such behavior, cop or not, is wrong.