[flukus]

I suspect the police weren't shooting because they realized how overwhelmed they were. I've seen a couple of videos where they had drawn their guns and prepared to fire but they were simply surrounded.

[throwaway316943]

The interaction I saw between the rioters and those defending the Capitol just after the woman was shot seem more enlightening than this theory.

[bluedino]

Crowds would have dispersed pretty quickly if the cops started shooting

[zepto]

Probably not. Even when actually shot, people don’t always run. It would be pretty hard for them to stop the crowd with a few cops and a few handguns.

[philwelch]

Or they would have stormed the cops in a blind rage, killed them, and taken their weapons.