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      Vivid retelling brings horror of January 6 back to scene of the crime

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      Vivid retelling brings horror of January 6 back to scene of the crime Liz Cheney was the star prosecutor in a primetime indictment of Donald Trump’s attempt to illegally cling to power but will the audience stay for episode two?It was too much to take. Too much for a second time.As the cavernous room filled with ugly cries and chants, police radio pleas for help, images of a human herd driven by a crazed impulse to beat police, smash windows and storm the US Capitol, survivors of that day held hands and wept.January 6 hearing: Trump was at heart of plot that led to ‘attempted coup’Read moreSeveral members of the House of Representatives, who were trapped on a balcony in the chamber as the attack unfolded on 6 January 2021, sat together at Thursday’s opening public hearing held by the select committee investigating the insurrection.When a carefully crafted video of that day’s carnage was played, Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal watched haunted and spellbound and wiped a tear from her eye. When her colleague Cori Bush broke down, a tissue was passed along the line so she could wipe her eyes.The pain of reliving it all was written on the faces of the group, who have provided emotional support to each other ever since. And the effect was magnified because of the stagecraft: the footage was shown on a giant cinema-style screen above the committee members’ head and the volume was turned up to a deliberately discomforting level.Committee member Jamie Raskin had promised that the revelations would “blow the roof off the House”; this did at least ring in the ears and take root inside the head. Later Jayapal tweeted a single word: “Horrifying.”In the hope of similarly cutting through to the American public, the hearing began at 8pm and was broadcast live on every major network except Fox News. Prime time is a language that Donald Trump, a former reality TV star, understands but this turned out to most closely resemble a courtroom drama. Think Law & Order comes to Washington.There was an unlikely star prosecutor, Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney, who clinically and methodically laid out a damning case against Trump and those who still support the ex-president. There was gasp-inducing evidence pulled out of the hat, including video testimony from Trump’s daughter Ivanka.There was a jury of millions watching at home: the court of public opinion. But missing, of course, was the accused himself. There was no case for the defence, no Trump in the dock sweating under the bright lights from two big chandeliers. His champions on Fox News and elsewhere will denounce it as a show trial. His critics will urge the attorney general, Merrick Garland, to bring a genuine criminal indictment.The drama inside the drama here was Cheney versus Trump and a battle of wills over the direction of the Republican party. Poignantly the daughter of George W Bush’s vice-president, Dick Cheney, knows that the very act of prosecuting Trump might be an act of political self-immolation. The former president has backed a challenger to her in a Republican primary in Wyoming in August and rallied against her there two weeks ago.“I keep waiting for Liz Cheney to flinch,” wrote Frank Bruni, a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times. “But no. She’s all in and she’s all steel. It could well be the political death of her. Or it could give her a kind of immortality more meaningful than any office.”Cheney again refused to flinch on Thursday, arguing that Trump oversaw and coordinated a sophisticated seven-part plan to overturn the presidential election and prevent the transfer of power. He encouraged and endorsed the insurrection, refused to call off the mob and became angry with anyone who wanted to stop it, she alleged.“And, aware of the rioters’ chants to ‘hang Mike Pence’, the president responded with this sentiment: ‘Maybe our supporters have the right idea.’ Mike Pence ‘deserves’ it.”At that there was a murmur of disbelief from the members of Congress sitting at the back of the Cannon Caucus Room. Sitting beside chairman Bennie Thompson and other committee members on the dais, with five flags behind them, Cheney went on: “President Trump summoned the mob, assembled the mob and lit the flame of this attack.”She introduced video clips that included William Barr, who was attorney general at the time of the election, testifying that he told Trump “in no uncertain terms” that he did not see evidence of voter fraud.Another clip showed Trump’s daughter and senior adviser, Ivanka, in an unexciting grey room, responding to Barr’s assertion: “I respect Attorney General Barr so I accepted what he was saying.”That will not have played well at Mar-a-Lago, the Trump redoubt in Florida. Betrayed by his own blood and kin! Now he must know how King Lear felt. “How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child.”Almost as bad, Cheney also served up a clip of a speech by the once-devoted Pence, whom Trump pressured relentlessly to subvert democracy. The former vice-president stated baldly: “President Trump is wrong. I had no right to overturn the election. The presidency belongs to the American people and the American people alone. And frankly, there is no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president.”The congresswoman added “What President Trump demanded that Mike Pence do wasn’t just wrong, it was illegal and it was unconstitutional.”Cheney and fellow Republican Adam Kinzinger, who is not seeking re-election, have already been censured by the party for sitting on the committee and can expect more demonisation in the coming days. But she had a memorable rejoinder: “I say this to my Republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible: there will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain.”Eventually the case rested until the next hearing on Monday. The committee had delivered a mostly effective warning to America not to let Trump anywhere near the White House again.But will America tune in for episode two? Civil rights activist and legal analyst Maya Wiley warned on Twitter: “We are getting an opening similar to a jury trial. You lay out what the jury will learn during the trial. In this case over several hearings. A jury is a captive audience. TV audience is not.”TopicsUS Capitol attackThe US politics sketchUS politicsfeaturesReuse this content More

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      ‘It was a war scene’: Caroline Edwards describes Capitol attack violence

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      ‘It was a war scene’: Caroline Edwards describes Capitol attack violenceThe Capitol police officer, who was injured in the insurrection, said she saw colleagues ‘bleeding, on the ground, throwing up’ Caroline Edwards, a Capitol police officer who sustained a brain injury during the January 6 attack, gave a chilling recollection of the brutal violence of that day on Thursday, telling the committee investigating the attack it was a “war scene”.Her testimony offered key evidence for underscoring the stakes of the congressional hearing. It showed viewers at home that the attack on the Capitol in Washington DC was not an accident, but rather an intentional effort to inflict violence.“I can remember my breath catching in my throat because what I saw was a war scene,” she told the committee. “Officers on the ground. They were bleeding, on the ground, throwing up,” she said.January 6 hearing: Trump was at heart of plot that led to ‘attempted coup’Read more“I was slipping in people’s blood,” she added. “I was catching people as they fell. It was carnage. It was chaos. I can’t even describe what I saw.”Edwards is believed to have been one of the first officers injured during the attack, the New York Times reported last year. The committee played several clips of her being attacked.She described standing near a barricade as members of the Proud Boys, a far-right group that played a key role in the violence, escalated their attack. She described telling her sergeant they would need more people to defend the Capitol before a bike rack was thrown on top of her and she hit her head on nearby stairs, causing her to black out.But after regaining consciousness, Edwards, then 31, returned to defending the Capitol. “Adrenaline kicked in. I ran towards the west front, and I tried to hold the line at the Senate steps at the lower west terrace. More people kept coming at us.”In her testimony, she recalled seeing a fellow police officer, Brian Sicknick, after he had been pepper-sprayed and how he was pale. “He was ghostly pale, which I figured at that point that he had been sprayed and I was concerned,” she said.Sicknick died in the immediate aftermath of the attack but a medical examiner ultimately determined he died of a stroke. His mother and girlfriend attended the hearing on Thursday. After the hearing concluded, Edwards turned to his girlfriend, Sandra Garza, and said “I’m so sorry,” and hugged her, according to the Wall Street Journal.Edwards didn’t hesitate when she was asked to recall a memory that stuck out to her from that day.“It was something I’d seen out of the movies,” she said. “I saw friends with blood all over their faces,” she said. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think that as a police officer, as a law enforcement officer, I would find myself in the middle of a battle.”“I’m trained to detain a couple of subjects and handle a crowd, but I’m not combat trained,” She said. “That day, it was just hours of hand-to-hand combat.”TopicsUS Capitol attackUS policingThe far rightUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      How a documentary film-maker became the January 6 panel’s star witness

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      How a documentary film-maker became the January 6 panel’s star witnessNick Quested, who was embedded with the Proud Boys after the 2020 election, will supply first-hand knowledge of the riots When the House select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack on Thursday got to the witness testimony at its inaugural hearing, it heard from an individual with first-hand knowledge about how the far-right Proud Boys group came to storm the Capitol.The panel’s star witness, Nick Quested, is an Emmy award-winning British documentary film-maker who founded the indie film company Goldcrest and embedded with the Proud Boys in the weeks after Donald Trump lost the 2020 election as part of a project about division in America.“We chose the Proud Boys because they’ve been so vociferous in rallies and protests around America, and they’ve emerged as a political voice and force, particularly in the summer of 2020,” Quested told the Guardian. “We felt they were a group worth following.”January 6 hearings get under way as US braces for revelations – liveRead moreQuested spent much of the post-2020 election period following around the Proud Boys and is considered by the select committee as an accidental witness to the group’s activities and likely conversations about planning to storm the Capitol on January 6.The documentary film-maker shot footage of some of the most crucial moments connected to the attack, starting with rallies in November and December 2020 which the Proud Boys attended alongside other militia groups including the Oath Keepers and the 1st Amendment Praetorian.Quested then managed to capture on camera a late-night rendezvous between Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys and Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers, in an underground parking garage near the Capitol the day before January 6.The US justice department has referenced that encounter in indictments for seditious conspiracy against Rhodes and other militia group members, though Quested has told the select committee he does not believe that was a meeting to coordinate storming the Capitol.Quested also filmed the Proud Boys marching up the National Mall from the Save America rally at the Ellipse to the Peace Monument at the foot of Capitol Hill, where the group’s members found themselves stopped from moving further by the edge of the US Capitol police perimeter.Over several tense minutes, he photographed Joseph Biggs, one of the Proud Boys indicted for seditious conspiracy, having a brief exchange with another man in the crowd, who then confronted Capitol police in a moment widely seen as the tipping point of the riot.The confrontation sparked the crowd to overturn the police barricade – despite Quested holding on to the fencing to keep it upright – and Quested filmed the charge up Capitol Hill towards the inaugural platform on the west side of the Capitol building.“Why did I go over to the barriers in the first place? Look, there’s two types of people in this world. There’s people who walk to disturbances and people who walk away. I walk towards disturbances,” Quested said.Panel to connect Proud Boys and Oath Keepers in Capitol attack conspiracyRead more“I didn’t know there was a confrontation happening. I felt a disturbance in the crowd and I moved towards that confrontation. And that confrontation happened to be Ryan Samsel shaking the barriers. And then the weight of the crowd overwhelmed the officers at the barrier.”Late in the day on January 6, Quested filmed Tarrio’s reaction to news about the Capitol attack in real time, having gone to see Tarrio in Baltimore, Maryland, where he had retreated after being ordered out of Washington by a local judge the day before.Quested discussed his footage and more at the select committee’s inaugural hearing pursuant to a subpoena, having already testified on multiple occasions behind closed doors about his recollections and experiences around the Proud Boys on January 6.The documentary film-maker – originally from west London and educated at St Paul’s school in London – followed the Proud Boys in the post-election period after covering conflict zones including Afghanistan, Iraq, El Salvador, Mexico, Nicaragua and Syria.Among other works, Quested produced Restrepo, the 2010 Oscar-nominated film that followed a platoon in Afghanistan for a year, and directed the 2018 duPont-Columbia award-winning film Hell on Earth, as well as more than 100 hip-hop videos, including with Dr Dre.TopicsUS Capitol attackRepublicansUS politicsThe far rightHouse of RepresentativesnewsReuse this content More

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      January 6 hearing: Trump was at heart of plot that led to ‘attempted coup’

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      January 6 hearing: Trump was at heart of plot that led to ‘attempted coup’House panel makes case in primetime broadcast featuring eyewitnesses and video clips of Trump aides and family members

      January 6 hearing – live
      The chairman of the House select committee investigating the deadly January 6 assault on the US Capitol in 2021 said Donald Trump was at the center of a sprawling conspiracy to overturn the results of the presidential election that culminated in an “attempted coup”.Congressman Bennie Thompson, a Democrat of Mississippi, describing the grave threat posed to American democracy then and now by the former president’s actions, during an extraordinary public hearing in Washington on Thursday.Panel to connect Proud Boys and Oath Keepers in Capitol attack conspiracyRead moreThompson, the committee’s chair, and congresswoman Liz Cheney, a Republican of Wyoming and its vice-chair, laid out what they described as the “unconstitutional” misconduct of a former president who continues to peddle the lie that the election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden was stolen from him.“All Americans should keep in mind this fact,” Cheney said during the primetime proceedings, “on the morning of January 6, President Donald Trump’s intention was to remain president of the United States despite the lawful outcome of the 2020 election and in violation of his constitutional obligation to relinquish power.”Their presentation featured never-before-seen footage from the attack by extremist supporters of Trump who broke into the US Capitol to try to stop Congress certifying Biden’s win.And they weaved the film of the violence together with live testimony and videotaped depositions behind closed doors of Trump’s closest allies and family members.These included the former attorney general, William Barr, Donald Trump’s daughter and White House adviser, Ivanka Trump, his son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, and a longtime aide and spokesman, Jason Miller. The effect was cinematic and piercing.The opening act of what will be a series of six public hearings by the committee was full of revelations.Members of the audience gasped when Cheney said that, after being informed the mob was calling for his vice-president, Mike Pence, to be hanged, Trump told aides that perhaps he “deserved” it.The committee showed a clip of the then US attorney general, Bill Barr, saying he “repeatedly” told Trump “in no uncertain terms” that he had lost the election and the claims of it being “stolen” because of widespread voting fraud in key states were “bullshit”.In another interview, Ivanka Trump said she “accepted” Barr’s determination that the presidential election, won by Democrat Joe Biden, had been fair.Cheney also announced that multiple House Republicans had sought pardons from Trump for their involvement in the January 6 riot, including congressman Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, who has refused a request to testify before the committee.The evening presentation also included eyewitness testimony from Nick Quested, a British documentary film-maker who was embedded with the far right extremist Proud Boys group that led the storming of the Capitol.And from Caroline Edwards, a Capitol police officer who described in harrowing detail how she was assaulted when the mob descended on the building. She said she was knocked unconscious on the steps and after she came to, she ran to help overwhelmed officers trying to stop insurrectionists breaking into the Senate.The scene was like a “war zone” she said, and she was slipping on her fellow officers’ blood. “It was carnage. It was chaos,” she said.Drawing on the findings of their nearly year-long investigation, which includes more than 100 subpoenas, 1,000 interviews and 100,000 documents, the select committee will attempt to establish a comprehensive sequence of events that built to the cold January day when Trump urged supporters to “fight like hell” to protect his presidency.The attack, which played out in real-time on national television, left more than 100 police officers injured, as they clashed with a pro-Trump mob, some armed with bats, clubs and bear spray. Nine people lost their lives in connection with the riot, including a woman who was ​​fatally shot by a Capitol police officer as she attempted to breach the House chamber.Convincing a deeply polarized American public that the Capitol riot was not a spontaneous act of violence but the culmination of a months-long plot by Trump and his allies to undermine the results of a free and fair election is no easy task for the committee.Thompson argued that American democracy “remains in danger” as many Republicans at local and national level continue to boost the myth that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump and use it in their own election campaigns.“The conspiracy to thwart the will of the people is not over,” Thompson said..“January 6th and the lies that led to insurrection have put two and a half centuries of constitutional democracy at risk,” he added. “The world is watching what we do here.”The select committee is composed of seven Democrats and two Republicans.Speaking from the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles before the hearing on Wednesday, Biden said the assault on the Capitol was a “clear and flagrant violation of the constitution”.“A lot of Americans are going to see for the first time some of the details,” he said.Meanwhile, an unrepentant Trump, who was banned from Twitter following the January 6 assault, posted on his own Truth Social social media platform, calling the forces unleashed in the attack on the Capitol not an insurrection or a deadly riot, but a movement.“January 6th was not simply a protest, it represented the greatest movement in the history of our country to Make America Great Again,” Trump said.Hundreds have been charged in connection with the events of January 6, and some have even been charged with seditious conspiracy, including the leader of the Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio. The committee showed several clips of the defendants saying the reason they came to Washington on January 6 was because Trump told them to.The hearings will resume next week. “We’re going to take a close look at the first part of Trump’s attack on the rule of law,” Thompson said, “when he lit the fuse that ultimately resulted in the violence of January 6th.”TopicsUS newsUS Capitol attackDonald TrumpUS politicsJoe BidennewsReuse this content More

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      Panel to connect Proud Boys and Oath Keepers in Capitol attack conspiracy

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      Panel to connect Proud Boys and Oath Keepers in Capitol attack conspiracySources say investigators intend to show far-right militias coordinated in effort to storm US Capitol on January 6 last year The House select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack is expected at its first hearing on Thursday evening to connect the far-right Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers militia groups in the same seditious conspiracy, according to two sources familiar with the matter.The move by the panel and chief investigative counsel Tim Heaphy could be one of the major revelations that comes from the hearing, which is expected to focus on the militia groups and how they made plans to storm the Capitol, the sources said.US braces for House committee’s primetime January 6 hearings – liveRead moreTop members of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers have been charged separately by the justice department with seditious conspiracy, but the select committee’s intention to show that their efforts were connected would escalate the gravity of the plans to attack the Capitol.The panel is understood to be able to connect the two groups in part as it got access to the Oath Keepers’ encrypted Signal messaging chats, while the first witness at the hearing, documentarian Nick Quested, who filmed the Proud Boys, overheard their planning.Text messages released by the justice department have also shown that the two groups were in touch before January 6. Meanwhile at least one person, Joshua James, appears to have simultaneously been both a member of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers.It could not be confirmed ahead of the hearing whether the select committee had the evidence to tie Donald Trump into the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers’ conspiracy. But the panel is not expected to tie Roger Stone to the conspiracy, having been unable to find any such evidence.The role of the militia groups in the story of January 6 is important because they specifically planned to storm the Capitol to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s election win – what Trump wanted and needed after his other efforts to overturn the election failed.The panel is expected to make its case that there was coordination between the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers – something the panel has long believed – over the course of a hearing that will specifically zero in on the role of the Proud Boys in the Capitol attack.A member of the Proud Boys was the first person to breach the Capitol by using a police riot shield to break through a window on the Senate side of the Capitol, and another member of the Proud Boys appeared to precipitate the first breach of police lines on January 6.The inaugural hearing is expected to focus on Quested’s video footage of the moment that Joseph Biggs, a member of the Proud Boys indicted for seditious conspiracy on Monday, had a brief exchange with another man near the Peace Monument at the foot of Capitol Hill.Biggs’ exchange with that man, Ryan Samsel, is widely seen as the tipping point that precipitated the riot. Samsel, who has been charged with attacking police, then walks up alone to the barricade and confronts US Capitol police officers before pushing it over.The inaugural hearing is also expected to focus on Quested’s video of the Proud Boys charging up Capitol Hill towards the lower west plaza of the Capitol and the inaugural ceremony platform, where Proud Boys member Dominic Pezzola smashes the window with the shield.Also during the inaugural hearing, the select committee is expected to play previously unreleased video of Trump’s top aides and family members testifying before the panel. The panel intends to show Trump was at the center of a multi-step effort to overturn the election.TopicsUS Capitol attackRepublicansUS politicsThe far rightnewsReuse this content More

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      Michigan candidate for governor arrested for participating in Capitol riot

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      Michigan candidate for governor arrested for participating in Capitol riotRepublican Ryan Kelley was caught on video shouting ‘this is war’ on the steps of the Capitol A Republican standing for governor of Michigan has been arrested by the FBI for disorderly and disruptive conduct related to his alleged involvement in the storming of the US Capitol building on 6 January 2021.Ryan Kelley was arrested on Thursday morning while his house near Grand Rapids was searched by federal agents, the Detroit News reported. An indictment released by the US district court for Washington DC, which is handling most of the criminal cases arising out of the January 6 insurrection, charged Kelley with “disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds”.Kelley, a real estate agent, is one of five Republican candidates remaining in Michigan’s primary gubernatorial race, which will be held in August. His arrest throws the contest into further disarray: five other Republican candidates have already been disqualified having been accused of submitting fraudulent petitions to get on to the ballot.Video footage captured during the storming of the US Capitol on January 6 appears to show Kelley climbing the outer steps of the compound shouting: “Come on, let’s go! This is it! This is war baby!”The criminal complaint against Kelley said that as Mike Pence was beginning the certification process of Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election, a large crowd gathered outside the US Capitol. It says that an anonymous tipster contacted the FBI with photos of a man in a black coat, backwards black baseball cap and aviator sunglasses who appeared to be Kelley.The FBI said that it had positively identified Kelley as the man in the photographs using witnesses. According to the charges, Kelley was part of the crowd that pushed its way into the Capitol, at one point standing on an architectural feature next to the north-west stairs and indicating “by waving his hand that the crowd behind him should move towards the stairs leading into the UC Capitol building”.Kelley’s arrest and prosecution comes just hours before the House select committee that is investigating the January 6 insurrection holds the first of six televised hearings. With less than two months to go before the August primary, the Republican primary race in Michigan is now in turmoil.The five other candidates who have already been thrown off the ballot were disqualified last month after thousands of allegedly fraudulent signatures were found on petitions for the individuals to be nominated into the primary race. To be considered, each candidate had to gather at least 15,000 valid signatures.But according to election authorities in the state, thousands of invalid signatures were discovered. The elections bureau said it did not suspect the candidates of being aware of the fraud, but penalised them for failing to ensure that their petitions were legitimate.The Michigan Democratic party responded swiftly to Kelley’s arrest. Lavora Barnes, the party chair, told the Detroit Free Press: “Just days after their field was cut in half due to corruption and mass fraud, Republican gubernatorial candidates’ callous disregard for the principles of democracy was on full display again today.”TopicsMichiganUS Capitol attackUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      Washington Commanders coach sorry after calling Capitol attack a ‘dust-up’

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      Washington Commanders coach sorry after calling Capitol attack a ‘dust-up’Jack Del Rio referred to Capitol riots as ‘dust-up’ in tweetWashington defensive coordinator joined staff in 2020 An assistant coach for the NFL’s Washington Commanders issued an apology for his word choice after doubling down on a comparison he made on social media between the violent attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, and the protests in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd.Washington coach defends comparing Floyd protests to January 6 riotsRead moreJack Del Rio, a former linebacker who now runs Washington’s defense, downplayed the deadly insurrection and questioned why the summer of 2020 protests were not receiving the same scrutiny. His comments Wednesday after an offseason practice came a day before a House committee investigating the pro-Donald Trump disruption of Congress 17 months ago begins public hearings on the matter.“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, nothing burned down, and we’re going to make that a major deal. I just think it’s kind of two standards.”Amid backlash for his comments, Del Rio released a statement on Twitter Wednesday afternoon apologizing his word choice. Del Rio said it was “irresponsible and negligent” to call the riot a “dust-up.” But he said he stood by comments “condemning violence in communities across the country.”His comments followed a Twitter post Monday night in which he said, “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 ???” He was responding to a tweet about the Congressional hearings into Jan. 6.Del Rio and coach Ron Rivera say they aren’t concerned if the opinion will upset Black players who make up the majority of their team, some of whom spoke out about police brutality and racism in the wake of Floyd’s killing two years ago.“If they are (concerned) and they want to talk about it, I’d talk about it with anybody,” Del Rio said. “No problem. At any time. But they’re not. I’m just expressing myself and I think we all as Americans have a right to express ourselves, especially if you’re being respectful. I’m being respectful.”Washington defensive back Kendall Fuller, a Black player, said he was not aware of Del Rio’s tweet. After a reporter read it to him, Fuller said: “I don’t have a reaction right now. If I have a reaction, a feeling, towards something, I’ll express that with him.”Del Rio, 59, has posted conservative opinions to his verified Twitter account numerous times since joining Rivera’s staff in Washington in 2020.“Anything that I ever say or write, I’d be comfortable saying or writing in front of everybody that I work with, players and coaches,” Del Rio said. “I express myself as an American. We have that ability. I love this country and I believe what I believe and I’ve said what I want to say. Every now and then, there’s some people that get offended by it.”The remarks generated a prompt backlash from some Virginia lawmakers, who for months have been considering whether to pass legislation intended to incentivize the team to build a new stadium in the commonwealth by offering generous tax incentives. Two northern Virginia Democratic senators who had previously been enthusiastic supporters of the measure expressed concerns about Del Rio’s comments.Jeremy McPike tweeted a clip of Del Rio speaking with the message: “Yup. Just sealed the deal to cast my vote as a NO. I think what’s burning down today is the stadium bill.” Scott Surovell predicted there would be no more “votes on stadium bills this year.”Senate majority leader Dick Saslaw, a sponsor of the bill, said the comments were “not helpful” but talks over the legislation would continue. The measure initially cleared the state with broad Senate support, but other defectors had raised concerns even before Del Rio’s remarks.With five years left until their current lease at FedEx Field is set to expire, the Commanders have no stadium deal in place with Virginia, Maryland or the District of Columbia.Rivera, who hired Del Rio to run Washington’s defense without any prior relationship, said he would not discuss anything he talks about with his staff.“Everybody’s entitled to their opinion, though,” Rivera said. “If it ever becomes an issue or a situation, we’ll have that discussion. Right now, it’s something that I will deal with when it comes up.”Del Rio played 11 NFL seasons from 1985-95. He has coached in the league since 1997, including stints as the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2003-11 and Oakland Raiders from 2015-17.Washington’s defense ranked 22nd out of 32 teams last season after being the league’s second-best in 2020. Del Rio said he likes his players and welcomes any dialogue with them.“Let’s have a discussion. We’re Americans,” he said. “Let’s talk it through. I’m for us having a great opportunity having a fulfilled life every which way I can. When I’m here it’s about love and respect. I love my guys, I respect my guys but I also love the fact that I’m an American and that means I’m free to express myself. I’m not afraid to do that.”TopicsWashington CommandersNFLUS Capitol attackUS politicsUS sportsReuse this content More