NFL defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio has been fined $100,000 by the Washington Commanders for his recent comments comparing riots following George Floyd’s death to the January 6 Capitol riot. Del Rio labeled the events of January 6 as a “dust up,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Friday.
On Wednesday, Del Rio was asked about a tweet from earlier in the week where he said he would love to understand the “whole story” of what happened during the summer of 2020 and the riots sparked by the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers.
“Businesses are being burned down, no problem and then we have a dust-up at the Capitol, nothing burned down and we’re gonna make that a major deal,” Del Rio said, answering questions about his tweet.
More news out of Washington: pic.twitter.com/j9kpxxMUQM
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 10, 2022
The former head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars and then Oakland Raiders went on to clarify his comment. “I’m being respectful. I just asked a simple question,” he said. “Let’s get right down to it: What did I ask? A simple question. Why are we not looking into [the protests], if we’re going to talk about [the Capitol riot]? Why are we not looking into those things?”
Del Rio’s tweet and comments comparing the Capitol riot to the riots sparked by George Floyd’s death were too far for the Commanders, as they slapped him with a fine. The $100,000 fine will go to the U.S. Capitol Police Memorial fund, Commanders head coach Ron Rivera said.
“(Coach Del Rio’s) comments do not reflect the organization’s views and are extremely hurtful to our great community in the DMV,” Rivera commented. “As we saw last night in the (Congress) hearings, what happened on the Capitol on Jan. 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.”
Del Rio’s comments and the ensuing fine come as the Democrat-led Select Committee on January 6 began its hearings Thursday night.
Source: Dailywire
