“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,” Rivera’s assertion learn. “He does have the right to voice his opinion as a citizen of the United States and it most certainly is his constitutional right to do so. However, 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.”
The fantastic can be donated to the U.S. Capitol Police Memorial Fund, which helps households of officers damage or killed within the line of responsibility. On Saturday, Del Rio apparently deleted his Twitter account.
Del Rio, who has usually been vocal about his political opinions and ideologies on social media, responded to a tweet Monday during which he questioned “the whole story” of why the “summer of riots, looting, burning and destruction of personal property is never discussed” however the Jan. 6 assault is.
When requested concerning the tweet by reporters Wednesday following a group observe, he doubled down, saying: “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 dust-up at the Capitol. Nothing burned down, and we’re not going to talk about — we’re going to make that a major deal.”
Speaking to reporters earlier Wednesday, Rivera initially declined to debate Del Rio’s tweets however stated he was “not necessarily” fearful they’d have an effect on the locker room. The group didn’t reply to requests for remark Wednesday or Thursday.
The fallout from his remarks was swift and powerful, with present and former gamers talking out in dismay. An NFL participant, who beforehand performed for Del Rio and spoke on the situation of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the difficulty, instructed The Washington Post the comments irked however didn’t shock him, “because I’ve heard these for the last two, three years. He’s been consistent. … People died, and he wants to call it ‘a dust-up.’ ”
The participant added that he would have bother taking part in for Del Rio once more “because he doesn’t support me as a human being” and stated the coach would by no means have made these comments “if he didn’t feel like he had a bunch of people agreeing with him.”
Del Rio issued an apology on Twitter late Wednesday, saying that his reference of the Jan. 6 assault as a “dust-up” was “irresponsible and negligent.” But his earlier comments continued to make waves all through the week.
Two Virginia senators stated Wednesday that, within the wake of Del Rio’s comments, they may now not assist laws meant to entice the Commanders to construct a brand new stadium within the state. The invoice was pulled completely a day later, and State Senate Majority Leader Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax) cited Del Rio’s remarks as one of many deciding components.
On Thursday, the president of the NAACP, Derrick Johnson, issued a press release calling for Del Rio to resign or be fired. And Rod Graves, the chief director of the Fritz Pollard Alliance, a range group that works intently with the NFL on its minority hiring, stated Del Rio’s comments “go against the values” of the alliance and the NFL.
“His comments do not reflect the organization’s views and are extremely hurtful to our great community here in the DMV,” Rivera stated in his assertion. “As we saw [Thursday] night in the [Jan. 6 committee] 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. …
“I feel strongly that after our conversation this morning, he will have a greater understanding for the impact of his language and the values that our team stands for.”
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