I find this thread a good read. I even bookmarked it last night so that I could find it swiftly in the morning. As a moderator on another forum I understand the admins/mods completely. And they did what they were supposed to do being who they are. And I have to agree with several people who have posted in this thread, that this whole situation was badly handled by a group of immature people on several counts.
There is a disturbance in authority here between these members and the admins. Admins are the rules, they can do whatever they want and being good admins they will only act when there is reason for it. So there should be some respect towards these people especially when they respect each and every member. I find it very disturbing that some have built up their ego and can act like they are on par with the admins. What is more troubling is that the admins have already given them some slack and they act this way.
I would personally handout some final warnings and if the attitude doesn't change instantly I wouldn't think twice about perm banning. Why? Since drama doesn't belong here on OwnedCore.