Washington Commanders’ Jack Del Rio Calls January 6 A ‘Dust-Up,’ Blasts Double Standard On George Floyd Protests

Washington Commanders defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio sparked backlash when he referred to the January 6th riot on Capitol Hill as a “dust-up” — and complained that those responsible for riots all across the country during the summer of 2020 were not held to the same standard.

Del Rio spoke to reporters on Wednesday, and someone asked about a recent tweet in which he had compared the riots after George Floyd’s death to the January 6th riot and asked why — given all the focus on the latter — no one had any interest in getting to the bottom of the former.

Responding to a report detailing a guide to the January 6th hearings, Del Rio tweeted, “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 ???”

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 ???#CommonSense

— Jack Del Rio (@coachdelrio) June 7, 2022

When asked about the tweet on Wednesday, Del Rio doubled down:

Commanders DC Jack Del Rio on tweet comparing George Floyd protest to the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan 6th

“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.”@wusa9 #HTTC pic.twitter.com/GcuxOL6XZX

— Darren M. Haynes (@DarrenMHaynes) June 8, 2022

“I’m being respectful. I just asked a simple question,” Del Rio replied. “Let’s get right down to it: What did I ask? A simple question. Why are we not looking into [the protests], if we’re going to talk about [the Capitol riot]? Why are we not looking into those things?”

Del Rio went on to make the direct comparison again, laying out what he viewed to be a double standard between the way the George Floyd riots were addressed and the way January 6th was still at the forefront of the national conversation.

“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,” Del Rio said. “And then we have a dust-up at the Capitol, where nothing burned down, and we’re going to make that a major deal.”

Del Rio’s comments come as the January 6th Committee prepares for hearings that will be broadcast live on most major cable networks — the exception being Fox News, although Fox Business Network will carry full coverage.

Several others have criticized the continued focus on the Capitol Hill riot as well, saying that the American people might be more concerned with inflation and other issues that are impacting them every day.

“The View” guest host Lindsey Granger made that exact point during Tuesday’s broadcast, only to get shouted down by regular host Whoopi Goldberg.