A comment on what topics seemed to get box_in_the_box heated isn't a personal attack and not abusive. It would be heavy handed in the extreme (something people have been complaining about that prompted these clarifications) for the moderators to view it as such.
It's an anonymous poster and at least one community member talking off topic in a disparaging manner with "don't get him started on _____". Even if their assessment is correct, it's still speaking of a poster in a negative manner - is there any way that you can credibly put a positive spin on that statement in context of what happened? No, not really.