no, they stepped up but didn't have the numbers. you can't ask people to just immediately throw themselves into a possible meat-grinder; the people around you aren't life-long soldiers who have had psychopathy beaten into them.

we need more people to step forward like that, yes, but the way you get that is by making sure people don't get so isolated in the first place. then when people freeze for a second while others step forward, it looks like the whole crowd is surging forward. the movement of the people nearby will encourage more people to move with them.

then you've got the potential to do something and pull someone out of a situation like this (or just prevent it outright because the cops are too afraid to engage).