We're probably operating on incomplete information, but to me the guy is a jerk who was acting smart with the stwardess. I don't see where he made a threat. I don't read anything him being restrained, the cuffed, or of his friend being cuffed on the flight, detained for questioning and then released. This tells me that the air marshalls realized they weren't dealing with a real threat. In that case, three of them could have maintained control of the cabin without a "hands on the head" drill for all the passengers.
I would have stood and cited Section 6, Para 13b, Clause 2.1 of the Annotated Rules and Regulations of the FAA and the Airlines Industry which clearly prohibits "glaring and signaling" and proscribes a 20 year prison sentence for the first offence.