If a person is 6-foot or taller, there is not enough room. My vote is with the fella getting his kneecaps crushed.
Those non-reclining seats should be priced much cheaper and let the market decide if the body fits or has the tolerance for pain.
That said, the actions of the passenger drumming and punching the back of the seat is the kind of selfish, self-absorbed behavior you see with Leftists everywhere. And I'm thinking the reclining passenger was a Leftist as well. Conservatives would have worked out the situation without resorting to childish behavior.