Originally Posted by ijgordon

I assume so, but I think they're relevant in the court of public opinion as people are trying to assess what actually happened, especially before the cameras turned on, so they can form their own opinions on the situation and then go blast them all over social media.

Knowing his past lends credence to the claim from UA that he was "disruptive and belligerent" (or whatever term they used). Perhaps people's experiences with UA agents making false claims like this and mistreating passengers takes some of that credence away. Everyone is going to react to the information they have in their own way. It seems like the public was (initially) reacting only to the fact that the passenger was dragged out of his seat and his head inadvertently crashed against an armrest.