Well, here in Texas there is no legal way to bicycle into DFW Airport. The interstate highway and the state divided highways are all banned from bicycle riding.

His attitude and the way he handled this confrontation just was wrong. I believe the law states you have to submit to police authority whether you agree with it or not. You can dispute the legality of it afterwards, but the police have the authority to stop you and detain you for any reason, at any time, for up to 24 or 48 hours. If you resist, even passively, you open yourself up for actions deemed necessary by the officer to enforce his authority to contain or control you.

He had a folding bike, he should have taken public transport until he was off the airport and the major highways, then ridden it. Commonsense would have prevented this entire episode.