Escalation

I'm trying to figure out how this works:

It started when Wilkins, a black man, allegedly pushed and choked a 19-year-old white woman, with Wink, a white man, coming to help the woman.

"His assistance actually contributed to escalating matters, with his use of a contemptuous word to describe an African American," said police spokesman Howard Payne.

Officers moved in to break up the fight while Wink allegedly kept yelling "White power", besides other racial epithets.

I suppose technically intervening to stop the woman being choked was an escalation, but throwing around insults seems a relatively mild escalation compared to choking or punching.

I wonder how it actually happened. Reporters aren't always reliable sources, but then neither are police--especially when filtered through a reporter.