Washington Commanders Coach Jack Del Rio Rebuked and Fined $100K For ‘Extremely Hurtful’ Jan. 6 Comments

Washington Commanders defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio was fined $100,000, for calling the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Captiol a “dust up.”

On Monday, Del Rio tweeted, “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 ???”

Del Rio on Wednesday stood by his tweet.

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.

In a statement posted on Twitter on Wednesday, Del Rio apologized.

“I made comments earlier today in referencing the attack that took place on the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021. Referencing that situation as a dust-up was irresponsible and negligent and I am sorry,” he said. “I stand by my comments condemning violence in communities across the country. I say that while also expressing my support as an American citizen for peaceful protest in our country. I have fully supported all peaceful protests in America.”

Nonetheless, Del Rio was fined. In a statement, head coach Ron Rivera said:

This morning I met with Coach Del Rio to express how disappointed I am in his comments on Wednesday. His comments do not reflect the organization’s views and are extremely hurtful to our great community here in the DMV. As we saw last night in the hearings, what happened on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 was an act of domestic terrorism. A group of citizens attempted to overturn the results of a free and fair election, and as a result, lives were lost and the Capitol building was damaged.

Coach Del Rio did apologize for his comments on Wednesday and he understands the distinction between the events of that dark day and peaceful protests, which are a hallmark of our democracy. He does have the right to voice his opinion as a citizen of the United States and it most certainly is his constitutional right to do so. However, words have consequences and his words hurt a lot of people in our community.

I want to make it clear that our organization will not tolerate any equivalency between those who demanded justice in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the actions of those on January 6 who sought to topple our government.

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