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Virginia General Assembly tabling Commanders stadium bill

The General Assembly is abandoning for the year legislation intended to lure the Washington Commanders to Virginia. That's according to a top state lawmaker who sponsored one version of the legislation.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw said in a brief interview that there were too many issues to be resolved and controversies surrounding the NFL team for the legislation to proceed. He says it could be reintroduced next year.

The team said in a statement that it supported the legislature’s decision to “more deeply examine this issue.”

Washington Commanders assistant coach Jack Del Rio issued an apology for his word choice after doubling down on a comparison he made on social media between the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and the protests in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd.

The defensive coordinator said that during the 2020 protests, “People’s livelihoods are being destroyed, businesses are being burned down, no problem." He referred to the insurrection as “a dust-up at the Capitol" and questioned why the protests and insurrection don't receive the the same scrutiny.

On Wednesday afternoon, Del Rio released a statement on Twitter apologizing for calling the riot a “dust-up." He stood by comments “condemning violence in communities across the country.”

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