In this Aug 8, 2018 photo, pedestrians pass in front of the New York Times Co headquarters in New York, US. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG)

A New York Times opinion piece recommending that the US military be used to quell demonstrations that started after the death of George Floyd in police custody, suffered from a “rushed editorial process” and “did not meet our standards,” the newspaper said after a review of the controversial commentary.

Derek Chauvin is the officer seen in widely circulated video footage kneeling on Floyd’s neck as Floyd gasped for air and repeatedly groaned, “I can’t breathe,” before passing out

The op-ed, written by Republican Senator Tom Cotton, said that troops should restore order after rioters “plunged many American cities into anarchy.” The editorial was criticized on social media, including by some of the Times’ own employees, who said it would put the lives of black people and journalists in danger.

Late Thursday, the newspaper put out a statement saying they had examined the process leading up to the editorial’s publication and found it lacking.

“As a result, 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,” the Times said in the statement.

The move comes just hours after Times editorial-page editor James Bennet defended publishing the piece, saying “it would undermine the integrity and independence of the New York Times if we only published views that editors like me agreed with.”

ASLO READ: All 4 Minneapolis police officers charged in George Floyd death

Hundreds of mourners in a university chapel in Minneapolis on Thursday remembered Floyd, whose death set off a wave of nationwide protests that reached the doors of the White House and ignited a debate about race and justice.

Floyd’s death on May 25 has become the latest flashpoint for rage over police brutality against African Americans, propelling the issue of race to the top of the political agenda ahead of the US presidential election on Nov 3.

The prayer service, which drew comic actors Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish as well as US Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, coincided with a separate memorial tribute to Floyd in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, a major flashpoint of protests in recent days.

The day of remembrance capped nine straight nights of raucous but largely peaceful street demonstrations in Floyd’s name across the country - punctuated by sporadic arson, looting and clashes between protesters and police.

The outpouring of rage appeared to ebb on Wednesday night after prosecutors in Minneapolis elevated murder charges against one police officer jailed last week in Floyd’s May 25 death and arrested three others accused of aiding and abetting the first.

The family of George Floyd stands together in a moment of silence as they arrive for his memorial service, escorted by civil-rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton at North Central University, June 4, 2020, in Minneapolis. (BEBETO MATTHEWS / AP)

On Thursday, the three newly arrested officers - Thomas Lane, J Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao - made their first appearance in court and were ordered to remain held on US$750,000 bond each.

Their principal co-defendant, Derek Chauvin, 44, is slated to appear for his bond hearing on Monday. Chauvin is the officer seen in widely circulated video footage kneeling on Floyd’s neck as Floyd gasped for air and repeatedly groaned, “I can’t breathe,” before passing out.

The four former officers, all dismissed from the Minneapolis police department the day after their deadly confrontation with Floyd, each faces a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison if convicted of the most serious charges against them.

Floyd, a Houston native who had worked security for various nightclubs, was unarmed when taken into custody outside a corner market where an employee had reported to police that a man matching his description tried to pay for cigarettes with a counterfeit bill.

His brother, Philonise Floyd, recounted to mourners in Minneapolis that he and his siblings grew up so poor they washed their socks and underwear in the sink and dried them in the oven.

“It’s crazy man, all these people came to see my brother, it’s amazing he touched so many hearts,” said Philonise Floyd, wearing a dark suit adorned with photo of his brother.

A second brother, Terrence Floyd, joined an outdoor memorial in a Brooklyn park, where many in the crowd knelt in the grass in the afternoon sunshine in a symbol of protest and chanted, “No justice, no peace.”

He urged the crowd to continue to seek justice but to avoid violence, saying, “My brother wasn’t about that.”

George Floyd's casket carried to a hearse after his funeral at North Central University, June 4, 2020, in Minneapolis, Minn. (BEBETO MATTHEWS / AP)

'Extremist agitators'

US Attorney General William Barr said on Thursday evidence had surfaced of foreign interests and “extremist agitators” affiliated with left-wing movements infiltrating the protests to foment unrest, though he offered no details.

Sharpton acknowledged that some demonstrations had devolved into incidents of lawlessness, which detractors had seized on to avoid a larger conversation about systemic racial inequality.

“None of us condone it - looting and violence,” Sharpton said. “But there is a difference between those calling for peace and those calling for quiet. Some y’all don’t want peace, you just want quiet. You just want us to suffer in silence.”

READ MORE: Protesters march again despite curfews, Trump vows crackdown

Services for Floyd are expected to stretch across six days and three states, including memorials in North Carolina and Houston. A funeral was planned for Tuesday.

In another racially charged case that has gained national attention, a court heard on Thursday that one of three white men charged in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man jogging in Georgia had uttered a racial slur against the victim, Ahmaud Arbery, just after he was slain.