Commanders fine Jack Del Rio $100K for Capitol riot comments

Commanders defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio was fined $100,000 by the team Friday for his comments about protests in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd and the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Coach Ron Rivera announced the fine in a statement after meeting with Del Rio. He said Del Rio’s statements were hurtful to members of the local community and did not reflect the views of the organization.

Asked Wednesday about a social media post he made earlier in the week, Del Rio downplayed the deadly Capitol riot and questioned why the protests in the summer of 2020 after Floyd’s death were not receiving the same scrutiny. Del Rio called the 2021 riot “a dustup at the Capitol,” a comment for which he later apologized.

Speaking to reporters earlier Wednesday, Rivera initially declined to discuss Del Rio’s social media posts but said he was “not necessarily” worried they’d affect the locker room.

Del Rio’s comments were prompted by preparations for this week’s hearings by a U.S. House committee on the Jan. 6 riot. The Commanders announced the fine the day after the committee had its first public hearing, shown on national TV, in which lawmakers said the siege was no accident but an “attempted coup” and a direct result of Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election result.

In the statement Friday, Rivera said that Del Rio “understands the distinction between the events of that dark day (Jan. 6) and peaceful protests, which are a hallmark of our democracy. Words have consequences, and his words hurt a lot of people in our community. 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 said Del Rio has a constitutional right to voice his opinion but he believed strongly after their conversation that Del Rio “will have a greater understanding for the impact of his language and the values that our team stands for.” He said the fine money will be donated to the United States Capitol Police Memorial Fund.

The comments by Del Rio, 59, made waves throughout the week.

While the Commanders players asked about them declined to comment or brushed off their significance in the locker room, multiple Virginia lawmakers expressed concern about the team’s latest in a long line of offseason issues. On Thursday, Virginia’s legislature abandoned a bill that would have given the NFL club tax incentives to build a stadium in the state. The Commanders currently play at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland.

Also on Thursday, the president of the NAACP, Derrick Johnson, issued a statement calling for Del Rio to resign or be fired. And Rod Graves, executive director of the Fritz Pollard alliance, a diversity group that works closely with the NFL on its minority hiring, said Del Rio’s comments “go against the values” of the alliance and the NFL.

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