I thought it was commonplace on US Domestic flights to not always offload baggage even if the passengers were not on-board? As much as I disagree with the practice, this is not the first time I've heard of this happening.
Every person denied on a flight now seems to want to get their 5 minutes of fame. If this was to happen to me I'd me mortified and be the one apologising to be honest. The last thing I'd do is go running to the press.