I mean personally this goes both ways for me.

IMO, if this happened to any other crowd of people, the police would have responded. I think that they saw what was going on and more importantly who it was happening to and found an excuse to let it happen.

Its my opinion that they would have found any excuse not to help people protesting the police, and this was their go-to choice because it does two thing; "Justifies" their apprehensiveness to help, and paints the protesters as "Armed and Dangerous" with officers having no option but to fear for their lives and refuse to enter.

Seems like just another method to turn protesters and the population against armed protests.