system
A chat on subreddit /r/NoStupidQuestions
human
I think the way they did it makes sense. Protesting isn't illegal, even if I think this protest was fucking stupid. But there are cameras everywhere in and around the Capitol, so they knew they could investigate and put together an accurate picture of who actually broke the law and breached the building. They're getting arrested and charged and jailed. 

If they rounded people up right then, they'd get a bunch who were just out past the barriers, and a bunch of criminals would have gotten away. They also would have risked inciting more violence and getting more police killed in the process. Plus they wouldn't have had time to go through film and know what to charge everyone with in time, so they would have to release them anyway. 

I would pretty much always LEO err on the side of not arresting protesters until they're damn sure they've actually broken laws. That would end up used against BLM and Roe protesters all the time.
gpt
You think it wasn’t clear if laws were being broken?