Washington Commanders defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio's Twitter activity has significantly lightened his pockets, so much so that it appears he has left the platform entirely.
Del Rio's Twitter handle @coachdelrio is no longer active as of Saturday, one day after he was fined $100,000 by the Washington Commanders for referring to the Jan. 6, 2021, attacks on the Capitol as a "dust-up."
On Tuesday, Del Rio tweeted that he believed that those who engaged in rioting in response to George Floyd’s murder should be investigated like those who attacked the Capitol.
He doubled down on his remarks on Wednesday, telling reporters: "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. And then we have a dustup at the Capitol, nothing burned down and we’re gonna make that a major deal. I just think it’s kind of two standards."
OPINION:No, Jack Del Rio: Jan. 6 wasn't a 'dust-up.' It was a violent act of treason.
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Head coach Ron Rivera said Del Rio's controversial 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 January 6, 2021 was an act of domestic terrorism," Rivera said in a statement Friday. "Words have consequences and his words hurt a lot of people in our community."
Del Rio later issued an apology on Twitter: "Referencing that situation as a dustup was irresponsible and negligent and I am sorry. I stand by my comments condemning violence in communities across the country. I say that while also expressing my support as an American citizen for peaceful protest in our country. I have fully supported all peaceful protests in America. I love, respect, and support all my fellow coaches, players, and staff that I work with and respect their views and opinions."
Del Rio's $100,000 fine will be donated to the United States Capitol Police Memorial Fund, but it looks like he deleted his Twitter account to avoid any further fallout.
Contributing: Mike Jones
