D.C. Football Coach Fined $100,000 for Calling Capitol Attack a ‘Dust-Up’

Ryan Bort
·3 min read
Washington Football Team v Las Vegas Raiders - Credit: Getty Images
Washington Football Team v Las Vegas Raiders - Credit: Getty Images
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Washington Commanders Head Coach Ron Rivera has fined Defensive Coordinator Jack Del Rio $100,000 for minimizing the attack on the Capitol as a “dust-up.”

“Words have consequences and his words hurt a lot of people in our community,” Rivera wrote in a statement. “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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Rivera said the $100,000 will be donated to the United States Capitol Police Memorial Fund.”

Jack Del Rio, a journeyman NFL coach who has run the Washington Commanders’ defense for the past two years, earlier this week wondered why Congress is investigating the riot at the Capitol and not the Black Lives Matter demonstrations that followed Floyd’s death in the summer of 2020.

“I can look at images on the TV, people’s livelihoods are being destroyed. Businesses are being burned down. No problem,” he said. “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. Let’s have a discussion. We’re Americans. Let’s talk it through.”

Del Rio released an apology on Wednesday, calling his minimization of the attack “irresponsible and negligent.”

The House committee investigating the Capitol attack will hold the first of six public hearings on Thursday night. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a member of the committee, has said that the panel’s findings will “blow the roof off the House” while teasing that former President Trump did more than simply “incite” what happened last Jan. 6. A bipartisan Senate report found that at least seven people died in connection with the attack. Dozens were injured.

Del Rio’s comments came in the wake of a tweet he posted Monday wondering why Congress is investigating the violent attempt to overthrow democracy on Jan. 6 instead of the Black Lives Matter demonstrations the previous summer. “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 wrote.

Del Rio regularly shares right-wing views on Twitter and has promoted posts from conspiracy theorists like Jack Posobiec, Dinesh D’Souza, and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.). He recently wrote that “we must protect our children,” apparently in reference to a Texas lawmaker proposing a law that would ban minors from watching drag shows. Del Rio has also indicated opposition to measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Del Rio was previously the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Las Vegas Raiders. Washington is the third team for which he’s served as defensive coordinator. The Commanders gave up over 25 points per game last season, ranking 25th out of 32 teams in the league.

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