The New Civil violence

Although I have only seen a few still photos of the aftermath, the description of the video of the forcible removal of a United Airlines passenger from his seat on a flight from Chicago to Louisville is totally horrific.  The airline overbooked the flight and needed 4 seats to transport an aircrew.  After offering $800.00 (I think it was in vouchers, not cash) and getting no takers, someone had the bright idea of randomly drawing 4 passengers' names and requiring them to get off the plane.  Three did so voluntarily, but the fourth, a 69 year old doctor replied he had to be in  Louisville the following morning to care for patients and refused to leave.  Either thanks to an idiotic protocol or an even more egregious error by some middle manager, the airline summoned the airport police who used more than excessive force to drag the elderly man out, after letting him "fall" into an armrest and bloodying his face.  Aside from the PR black eye this incident gave UAL, the use of police force is to me the most troubling aspect of the episode.  I have often thought this country could never become an authoritarian dictatorship, because the basic goodness and civility of the American people will not be suborned.  No one forced the policeman who roughed up a 69 year old to do so.  He chose that course.  The recent election of Cheeto Jesus, who memorably opined he wished he could punch a protestor in the face at one of his rallies, is making me rethink the possibility of a Stalinist regime flourishing in the "land of the free and the home of the brave".