Washington Commanders Coach Calls Jan. 6 a ‘Dust Up’ While Defending Controversial Tweet

NFL coach Jack Del Rio referred to the January 6 Capitol riot as a “dust up” when speaking to press about a political tweet this week that had already earned him some backlash.

The Washington Commanders defensive coordinator questioned in a Monday tweet why 2020 riots in various cities that followed the death of George Floyd are not being investigated by lawmakers the way January 6 is. A congressional committee will be holding a Thursday evening hearing presenting some of their findings from their investigation into the Capitol riot.

“Would love to understand “the whole story “ about why the summer of riots, looting, burning and the destruction of personal property is never discussed but this is ??? #CommonSense,” Del Rio wrote in the tweet.

During a Wednesday press conference, the coach calmly defended his tweet, summing up the Capitol riot as a “dust up at the Capitol” that politicians are turning into a “major deal” compared to protests that turned violent in 2020.

I’m just expressing myself and I think we all as Americans have the right to express ourselves, especially if you’re being respectful. I’m being respectful. I just asked a simple question. Let’s get right down to it. What did I ask? A simple question — why are we not looking into those things if we’re going to talk about it. Why are we not looking into those things? Because it’s kind of hard for me to say, I can realistically look at it, I see the images on TV, people’s livelihoods are being destroyed. Businesses are being burned down. No problem. And then we have a dust-up at the Capitol, where nothing burned down. And we’re going to make that a major deal

Del Rio said he was simply asking for Americans to “have a discussion” about what he sees as “two standards” with his tweet.