Originally Posted by Rdenney

Discussed long ago. The fact is that the LEO's did not arrest Dao, charge him with anything, or read him his rights. That they were unwilling to do so demonstrates that they had no standing to apply force. This is going to be a big issue for them, I predict. The question I would have asked is, "Are you going to arrest me?" If the answer is yes, then I probably would have relented at that point. (Dao would not have.) But they didn't threaten him arrest in the video I saw of their conversation leading up to the removal. They threatened only to drag him out if necessary. If the answer to that question is, "No," then the response could legitimately be, "Our conversation is over, then."

Sometimes, cops are called to help settle a dispute, and they find themselves in a mediating role. "I'll go talk to him." They did that, and doing that might have been appropriate. But when he showed them a valid boarding pass, and when those around him supported the claim that he was minding his own business and posing no safety threat, they should have told the gate agents that there is nothing they can do--find another solution. Unless they have probable cause to believe a crime has been committed, I don't see any justification for the laying on of hands.

Threatening the safety of other passengers by violating the safety-based rules that permit the airline from refusing passage is another thing entirely. That is not what happened here.