President Donald Trump has signed an executive order on policing following more than three weeks of nationwide protests over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The order calls for the creation of a national police misconduct database and to give federal grants to departments to improve training. Trump resisted growing calls to back an outright ban on the use of police chokeholds. Instead, the order calls on officers to only use them if they feel his or her life is endangered. During an address at the White House surrounded by police officers, Trump made no mention of systemic racism and sought to downplay the crisis.

President Donald Trump: “Nobody is more opposed to the small number of bad police officers. And you have them. They are very tiny. I use the word 'tiny.' It’s a very small percentage. But you have them.”

Civil rights leaders and legal advocates widely criticized Trump’s executive order. The Rev. Al Sharpton called it “toothless and meaningless.” Kristen Clarke of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law described it as “anemic.”

Kristen Clarke: “This order was incredibly anemic, in that it does not deal with racial profiling. It does not impose a ban on chokeholds and neck holds. It does not end qualified immunity for officers. It does not strengthen the tools that we need to hold officers accountable and to make it possible to prosecute officers who use deadly or excessive force without basis.”

Protests against police brutality and racism are continuing across the country.