The New York Times said Thursday evening that their controversial op-ed piece from Republican Senator Tom Cotton - which encourages military incursion to quell the ongoing protests across the U.S. against police violence- did not meet its standards, just hours after the Times' opinion section chief James Bennet defended the decision.
"We've examined the piece and the process leading up to its publication," said Eileen Murphy, a spokesperson for The Times, in a statement, also published in an article on its website. "This review made clear that a rushed editorial process led to the publication of an op-ed that did not meet our standards."
According to the article, Bennet told staff members in a meeting Thursday that he had not read it before it was published.
"We're planning to examine both short term and long term changes, to include expanding our fact-checking operation and reducing the number of op-eds we publish," Murphy added.
Protesters hold placards as they rally against the death of George Floyd, in the Manhattan borough of New York City, U.S., June 2, 2020. /Reuters
The Wednesday opinion piece "Send in the Troops" by Cotton, a military veteran close to President Donald Trump, suggests that federal troops are needed to stamp out "anarchy" caused by the widespread protests. On Monday, Trump has also threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807, and in return, would deploy active-duty troops to U.S. cities.
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper publicly contradicted the president in strong wording days after, "I say this not only as Secretary of Defense, but also as a former soldier and a former member of the National Guard, the option to use active-duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort, and only in the most urgent and dire situations. We are not in one of those situations now."
As protests continue over George Floyd - an unarmed African American who died in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25 after a police officer knelt on his neck for nine minutes, so far there have been some dozen deaths that may be linked to the protests, but the demonstrations have been largely peaceful. Many cities have also imposed curfews, which officials believe do have "a calming impact" on the current situation and "allow things to get back to a better place."