Because he came from behind, when usually to simply ask a question you come from the front so the other person see you and doesn’t feel startled or threatened. And he came too close, which usually is considered something you do to hit on someone and you won’t do to “simply” ask a question as it would be seen as aggressive or weird.

Think about it, if a men come from behind and really close to another of the men who asked, would they think he was “simply” asking a question? No. And they are completely aware of that. But they support the “plausible deniability” since they probably do similar things. And the way to keep that “plausible deniability” for themselves is to gashlight us all.