With calls coming for Jack Del Rio to be fired in Washington, the team issued the embattled defensive coordinator a hefty fine instead.
Del Rio, who called the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection a mere “dust-up” earlier in the week, was socked with a $100,000 fine by Commanders head coach Ron Rivera on Friday.
“As we saw last night in the hearings, what happened on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 was an act of domestic terrorism,” Rivera said in a statement. “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.”
The $100,000 the team collects from Del Rio will be donated to the United States Capitol Police Memorial Fund, Rivera said.
Del Rio, 59, who has been with the Washington franchise as D-coordinator since 2020, was comparing the property destroyed during nationwide protests in the summer of 2020 in the wake of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin to the assault on the Capitol in an effort by supporters of then-President Trump to overturn the election results.
“I can look at images on the TV, people’s livelihoods are being destroyed, businesses are being burned down, no problem,” the former Jaguars and Raiders head coach said. “And then we have a dust-up at the Capitol, nothing burned down, and we’re going to make that a major deal.”
It was a major deal and Rivera made that clear in his 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.”
NAACP president Derrick Johnson called for Del Rio to either quit or be fired in a statement issued Thursday.
“His comments could not have been more offensive and ignorant,” Johnson wrote, per The Washington Post. “... Downplaying the insurrection by comparing it to nationwide protests, which were in response to a public lynching, is twisted. You can’t coach a majority Black team while turning your back on the Black community. It’s time for you to pack up and step off the field.”
Del Rio, who issued a halfhearted apology after his “dust-up” comments, had been asked by local reporters during media availability after practice on Wednesday to comment on a tweet he had sent on Monday in response to the upcoming prime-time hearing held by the House panel investigating the Capitol attack. The first hearing was held on Thursday night.
“Would love to understand ‘the whole story’ about why the summer of riots, looting, burning and destruction of personal property is never discussed but this is ??? #CommonSense.”
Rivera said he met with Del Rio Friday morning to express his disappointment.
“He does have the right to voice his opinion as a citizen of the United States and it is most certainly in his constitutional right to do so. However, words have consequences and his words hurt a lot of people in our community.”
