Jack Del Rio, defensive coordinator of the Washington Commanders, tried to walk back his comment that the January 6 Capito riot was only a “dust-up” when compared to the Black Lives Matter protests following the murder of George Floyd in 2020.
Monday, Del Rio tweeted his wish to understand why there hasn’t been similar concern around the “riots” in the summer of 2020 as to a mere “dustup” at the U.S. Capitol on January 6.
When questioned about his statement, Del Rio told reporters, “I can look at images on the TV [of the Floyd protests]—people’s livelihoods are being destroyed. Businesses are being burned down. No problem,” he continued, “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.”
Hours after his opinion was lambasted on social media, Del Rio issued a statement on Twitter expressing his regret for downplaying the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“Referencing that situation as a dust-up was irresponsible and negligent and I am sorry.”
A bipartisan Senate committee released a report, Examining the U.S. Capitol Attack: A Review of the Security, Planning, and Response Failures on January 6, on June 8, 2021. The committee determined that seven deaths could be attributed to the riot. One month later, two more police officers who were on duty at the Capitol that day died by suicide.
Del Rio says he stands by his “comments condemning violence in communities across the county. I say that while also expressing my support as an American citizen for peaceful protest in our country.”
Del Rio says he stands by his “comments condemning violence in communities across the county. I say that while also expressing my support as an American citizen for peaceful protest in our country.”
Tomorrow evening, June 9, at 8 p.m. Eastern, is the first hearing in which the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol shares the results of its investigations. The second hearing takes place Monday, June 13th, at 10 a.m. No formal schedule has been announced.