I think he is saying that words such as "cruelty" and "betrayal" have a weight in them that are way out of proportion to the events that took place.

I am a bit out of the loop (I don't know who the people involved are), but I tend to agree, I think. Sounds like a mix of miscommunication and group politics. Those are things that people might get upset, but the exaggerated response sounds like a cheap appeal to raw emotions.