The Commanders fined defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio $100,000 for his recent remarks that labeled the riots at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as a “dust-up.”
Head coach Ron Rivera said in a statement that he met with Del Rio on Friday morning and was disappointed about his comments.
“[Del Rio’s] comments do not reflect the organization’s views and are extremely hurtful to our great community here in the DMV,” Rivera said in the statement. “As we saw last night in the hearings, what happened on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 was an act of domestic terrorism.
“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.”
“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.
Rivera added that Del Rio’s fine will be donated directly to the United States Capitol Police Memorial Fund.
“I feel strongly that after our conversation this morning, he will have a greater understanding for the impact of his language and the values that our team stands for,” Rivera said.
Del Rio, 59, first turned heads earlier this week when he responded on Twitter to a story about the Jan. 6 commission.
“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,” he tweeted in an attempt to compare the racial justice protests of 2020 in response to the murder of George Floyd to the Capitol riot in 2021.
When asked after practice on Wednesday to further elaborate on his tweet, Del Rio doubled down.
“Why are we not looking into those things — if we’re going to talk about it — why are we not looking into those things?” he said. “I can look at images on the TV, people’s livelihoods are being destroyed, businesses are being burned down, no problem. And then we have a dust-up at the Capitol, nothing burned down, and we’re going to make that a major deal. I just think it’s kind of two standards, and if we apply the same standard and we’re going to be reasonable with each other, let’s have a discussion.That’s all it was. Let’s have a discussion.”
The defensive coordinator retracted his statement later on Wednesday amid backlash.
“I made comments earlier today in referencing the attack that took place on the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021,” Del Rio said. “Referencing that situation as a dust-up was irresponsible and negligent and I am sorry.”