In the wake of protests surrounding the murder of George Floyd, President Donald Trump has shown again and again that he is willing to sacrifice human life for the sake of his poll numbers and public appearance. The week started with Trump declaring himself "your law and order president" before tear-gassing peaceful protests in Washington D.C.

Trump ordered law enforcement to fire tear gas and rubber bullets on peaceful protestors at Lafayette Park, a location famous for frequent, usually peaceful protests. This was done to clear out the park so that Trump could stage a photo-op at a church on the other side of the park from the White House. At the church, Trump held a bible, closed and upside down. When asked if it was his bible, the President responded that it was "a bible". During the tear-gassing of the park, a pastor who worked at the church was also removed from the area.

Videos of the protests in the capital show military-grade helicopters and personnel. In some ways, D.C. has become the epicenter of Trump's efforts to crack down on the protests because it doesn't have the same rights and protections as the states. Basically, it doesn't have a governor to protect it from the acts of the President.

According to CNN, unidentified federal law enforcement has been seen throughout the city. D.C. police are required to wear badges by law, but these unidentified officers were seen with no badges or identifying information. This means it would have been hard for protestors to even know that these individuals were with the authority to police them. While they had no identifying information, they did, reportedly, have large firearms.

One of the major takeaways of this whole crisis and the President's response to it is that, if he were the ruler of any other country, America would condemn his actions and calls for violence. Despite this, Attorney General William Barr later defended the fact that some of these forces may have refused to identify themselves.

In fact, the issue has gotten bad enough that lawmakers are calling for the President to give a full list of all of the agencies involved in the crackdown on protests in the capital and elsewhere. There is also an effort in the Senate to pass a law requiring law enforcement and the military to identify themselves as such in similar situations.

So far, Trump, the "law and order president", seems fine with the idea of unattributable law enforcement. Instead, he seems willing to use the forces of any agency with or without proper training or jurisdiction. Put simply, this is a brute show of force against a group that is already systematically oppressed and at risk from the behavior of law enforcement.

After ordering an attack on peaceful protestors, Trump held a press conference in the Rose Garden in which he called himself an "ally to peaceful protesters". During the briefing, as the protesters were being attacked, he told the press that law enforcement would "dominate the streets" if the "domestic acts of terror" allegedly carried out by protestors didn't come to an end.

"If a city or state refuses to take the actions necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them," Trump said.

"My first and highest duty as president is to defend our great country and the American people," he added.

Trump's decision to order Lafayette Park cleared for a photo-op was seen by some as a response to the coverage of an incident in which Trump was forced to hide in a bunker as protesters threw bottles and bricks outside the White House. It also came after a week in which Trump was repeatedly criticized for tweeting calls for military and violent crackdowns on protests. White House officials have been struggling to help Trump strike the right tone with his rhetoric, a tone that won't lead to further wanton death. Some worry that a call for calm would be overshadowed by "Trump's own penchant for escalation and instigation".

Meanwhile, high ranking Trump officials still argue that there is no racism in law enforcement.

"I think there's racism in the United States still but I don't think that the law enforcement system is systemically racist. I understand the distrust, however, of the African American community given the history in this country," William Barr said on CBS.

"Painting law enforcement with a broad brush of systemic racism is really a disservice to the men and women who put on the badge, the uniform every day, risk their lives every day to protect the American people," acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf told ABC.

"We have policemen who are rogue -- the vast majority of policemen are wonderful," Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson said.

Of course, this lack of recognition of the very real issue of systemic targeting of minorities by forces in power, including the police, can only lead to further violence, oppression, and deaths.