Republican Hurls Anti-Gay Slurs at Officer During DUI Arrest
North Dakota Republicans are calling for State Rep. Nico Rios to resign after he directed anti-gay comments toward a police officer.
Republican leaders in North Dakota have called for a state lawmaker to step down after he made vulgar, anti-migrant and anti-gay remarks during a traffic stop last month at which he was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol.
According to CNN, State Rep. Nico Rios (R-Williston) was leaving a Christmas party on December 15 when he was stopped by police because his car was swerving from lane to lane. Officers conducted a series of field tests to determine Rios’s sobriety, noting that he was slurring his speech and had trouble constructing sentences.
The officers subsequently wrote in their report that Rios was verbally abusive throughout the encounter.
Police body camera footage obtained and posted online by Forum News Service shows Rios calling one of the officers a “f****t,” a “cocksucker,” a “traitor,” and a “coward.” He also asserts that foreigners shouldn’t be allowed to arrest Americans.
At one point, Rios, who sits on the House Judiciary Committee, which oversees law enforcement matters, questions the officer’s accent, to which the officer responds that he is from England. Rios then responds that England has been “taken over” by migrants.
“You’re arresting me for driving home while people come into your country and rape your women? And I’m the bad guy?” Rios reportedly told the officer.
Rios told the officers they would “regret picking on me because you don’t know who…I am,” and at one point demanded his cell phone so he could call Attorney General Drew Wrigley, reports Forum News Service.
Rios, who works in an oil field position involved in the hydraulic fracturing of wells as his full-time job, was subsequently charged with misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence and refusing a breathalyzer test. He is currently scheduled for a pretrial conference in municipal court on February 5, according to The Associated Press.
Several Republican Party leaders have urged Rios to resign from office. In a Facebook statement, the North Dakota District 23 GOP Executive Committee said it has “lost confidence” in Rios and his ability to represent his constituents.
“The language and slurs that Rep. Rios chose to use disrespected and belittled officers during his violation and are not consistent with our beliefs and party platform,” the committee said, referring to the national GOP’s recent tough-on-crime messaging and public demonstrations of support for police officers.
Republican House Majority Leader Mike Lefor called on Rios to resign, citing the police officer’s report of Rios being “verbally abusive, homophobic, racially abusive and discriminatory” toward him “for the entire duration of the incident following roadside testing.” Lefor also took issue with Rios appearing to use his position as a lawmaker to intimidate police and avoid arrest.
“There is no room in the legislature, or our party, for this behavior,” Lefor said in a statement. “I understand people make mistakes, but his comments and defiance to law enforcement are beyond the pale. In addition, any lawmaker attempting to use his or her elected position to threaten anyone or skirt the law is completely unacceptable.”
Rios replied to an email from the AP that he had no immediate response to Lefor’s comments.
North Dakota Republican Party Chairwoman Sandi Sanford criticized Rios, saying the lawmaker’s “actions and words fall short of the basic decency we expect from any of our neighbors. He endangered the community he was elected to serve and disrespected peace officers. This violates our core values as Republicans.”
However, in an odd twist, Sanford has since claimed, after being questioned by a local talk radio host, that she never called for Rios to resign from office, despite being quoted as supporting Lefor’s call for the freshman lawmaker to resign.
This led Rob Port, the reporter who posted the video of Rios’s DUI arrest, to write an opinion piece accusing Sanford of “fence-sitting” and speculating she is changing her tune to avoid angering more populist Republicans in the party.
“At best, Sanford is engaged in an egregious bit of fence-sitting. … At worst, she just stuck a knife in the back of one of her party’s legislative leaders,” Port wrote.
Rios apologized shortly after his arrest, saying his behavior towards the responding officers was unacceptable, as reported by The Hill.
“I vow to make sure this never happens again,” he said in a statement. “Moving forward after this night, I feel like I have to emphasize my complete and total commitment to supporting Law Enforcement. I messed up big time and I am truly sorry.”
It is unclear whether Republicans will take disciplinary action or seek to expel Rios if he refuses to resign. Republicans currently control the North Dakota House by an 82-12 margin.
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