What is all this nonsense about "UA's property" & an unruly passenger that should do as he is told? Bottom line is that he was a paying passenger who entered into a contract when the ticket was purchased & regardless of the small print & irrelevant nonsense the customer should have been given what he had paid for & not assaulted / humiliated in this manner.
The situation is made even worse by the fact that the fact that it was an internal / repositioning requirement that caused this - it's ultimately the customer that operates & funds the operation, not the staff & UA seem to be completely oblivious....
I guess in the same scenario I would have ended up getting a beating as I definitely wouldn't go quietly if I had paid for a ticket to suit my travel arrangements & had it refused for no good reason AFTER BEING SEATED.
There are plenty of obvious reasons as to why passengers may be taken off a flight & also why they should comply with what they are instructed to do by airline staff, but in this case "our plane, our law" has absolutely been abused & gone way to far.
UA deserve every bit of negativity & share price dropping that this sorry affair deals them with.