Washington Commanders Jack Del Rio calls Jan. 6 insurrection a “dust-up”

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Washington Commanders defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio claimed that the violent insurrection that took place on January 6 and left several Capitol police officers and one civilian dead was merely a “dust-up.”

Del Rio was asked by a reporter to comment on a tweet he made commenting on the upcoming January 6 Committee hearing questioning why the insurrection was being discussed.

The House committee investigating the Jan 6 insurrection is set to hold the first in a series of hearings laying out its initial findings Thursday night, a highly anticipated look at evidence the panel has been gathering for the last year.

On Wednesday at team minicamp, Del Rio doubled down on his tweet wondering why the insurrection was being looked into but not the “summer of riots, looting, burning and the destruction of personal property,” referencing the summer of mostly peaceful protests following the murder of George Floyd.

Jack Del Rio Deflection from Jan. 6 insurrection ignores data

The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) analyzed more than 7,750 Black Lives Matter demonstrations in all 50 states and Washington D.C. that took place in the wake of George Floyd’s death between May 26 and August 22, and found that more than 93% were peaceful.

“Businesses are being burned down, no problem and then we have a dust-up at the Capitol, nothing burned down and we’re gonna make that a major deal,” said Del Rio.

This is what Del Rio called a “dust-up”.

Later Wednesday afternoon Del Rio issued an apology on Twitter calling his statement “irresponsible and negligent.”

https://twitter.com/coachdelrio/status/1534644933457547269?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1534644933457547269%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fsports.yahoo.com%2Fcommanders-dc-jack-del-rio-what-happened-on-jan-6-at-the-capitol-was-a-dust-up-165717577.html

Del Rio’s comments caused quite a stir on Twitter with most people condemning his words, while Washington head coach Ron Rivera said “everyone’s entitled to their opinion.”