Sounds like that man was looking for q fight and you fit the bill.
Condolences on your friends, that sucks.
Side note: the pandemic and possibly even COVID the disease it self seems to have changed people, for the worst a lot of times. People seem meaner, more anxious, less patient and less willing to be decent to each other. Just reading the thread title (with no knowledge of the prior situation and what I've gathered the few times I met you Scary Guy) my immediate reaction was yep that dude (bar owner) just felt like venting with his fists.