Pure speculation: To prove a point about incoming FB bans you don't have to concentrate on a single person. Get a large number of "not very active, but known and generally acceptable" people. Spam reports for any old posts that can be taken the wrong way. Wait for any success story. You're bound to find someone who isn't currently protected, or someone who will make a review mistake.

To be clear: I'm not saying this is what happened. Only that we know targeted mass-reporting to get people banned happens and is successful, so it's one of possibilities.