Some Reddit moderators treat a simple mistake like you’ve committed a federal crime

I accidentally broke a subreddit rule by crossposting.
Fair enough remove the post. Send a warning. Even a temporary ban if that’s your policy.
Instead, I got a permanent ban and a lecture about how moderators are unpaid volunteers and how my attitude earned me a “promotion.”

The irony is that some people volunteer to moderate communities because they want to help build them. Others seem to volunteer because it’s the only place where they get to exercise authority over strangers.
Nobody is questioning the existence of rules. The issue is when enforcement becomes less about maintaining a community and more about enjoying the power to punish.
If a simple crosspost from a first-time poster requires a permanent ban, maybe the problem isn’t the user.
Has anyone else had experiences where a moderator escalated something incredibly minor into a permanent ban?