Commanders’ Ron Rivera fines defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio $100K for comments on Jan. 6 riot

Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera announced Friday that defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio has been fined $100,000 after Del Rio compared the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol to riots of 2020 following the death of George Floyd. 

“This morning, I met with Coach Del Rio to express how disappointed I am in his comments on Wednesday,” Rivera said in a statement. “His comments do not reflect the organization’s views and are extremely hurtful to our great community here in the DMV. 

“As we saw last night in the 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. 

“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.”

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Del Rio did issue an apology on Wednesday, which Rivera acknowledged in Friday’s statement, but Rivera said that “words have consequences” and fined Del Rio $100,000. 

“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 Jan. 6 who sought to topple our government,” Rivera’s statement continued. 

“After reflecting on the situation and circumstances, I have decided to fine coach Del Rio $100,000, which the team will donate to the United States Capitol Memorial Fund.”

On Monday, Del Rio responded to a story on Twitter about the upcoming Jan. 6 committee hearings. 

“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 ???” Del Rio wrote on Twitter.

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On Wednesday, Del Rio explained his tweet to reporters, video of which made its rounds on social media.  

“I just asked a simple question. Let’s get right down to it,” Del Rio said on Wednesday. “What did I ask? A simple question. Why are we not looking into those things — if we’re going to talk about it — why are we not looking into those things? Because it’s kind of hard for me to say, I can realistically look at it, I see the images on TV. People’s livelihoods are being destroyed, businesses are being burned down, no problem. 

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“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.”

Del Rio joined the Commanders as defensive coordinator in 2020.