If a passenger creates a risk to the plane or the physical safety to others, I'd agree. But for exercising his right to speak? I'd be livid as passenger if one of these thin-skinned crews aborted my travel rather than defusing the situation.

This was quite possibly a three-d-bag. scenario and if the crew showed some proactiveness and compassion and either admonished all to behave or shuffled them around in a meaningful way, all this could likely be prevented.
But seat load factors of 100%, having no space to maneuever and crews who are terminally disinterested in the passengers catalyze these events .