The North Dakota Republican Party is calling for their fellow member to step down from his role as state representative. This decision comes in response to an incident where police body cameras recorded him using derogatory slurs directed at a police officer during a DUI traffic stop.
The leadership in the state’s GOP called his actions during his Friday night, Dec. 15 arrest “verbally abusive, homophobic, racially abusive and discriminatory.”
The footage shows lawmaker Nico Rios, who represents Williston, progressively becoming increasingly agitated because he was stopped and detained for drinking and driving.
Early in the recording, he attempts to leverage his position to evade legal consequences. However, his efforts are thwarted when the arresting officers refuse to accept the politician’s official business card, intended as a “get out of jail” card. Rios proffers the card when asked for his registration.
Despite his intoxicated state and slurred speech, he managed to request that one of the officers disable the camera. The officer, who was in utter disbelief at the ask, declined his request and left him cuffed in the back of the patrol car. This seemed to infuriate the state legislator.
At one point in his back-and-forth with the cops, he barked, “You don’t know who the F I am!”
After being cuffed and his histrionics were ignored, the freshman politician — elected to office in 2022 — turned his attention to an officer who moved from his homeland of England to live and work in the American Midwest. First, he called him a homophobic slur and then he asked him if he loved his country. Within minutes, he escalated his inquiry and asked him why he was arresting him instead of all the immigrants and refugees in his country “raping” the women there.
His outrageous behavior prompted Republican North Dakota House Majority Leader Mike Lefor to issue a call for him to resign on Tuesday, Dec. 19.
“I am extremely disappointed in Rep. Rios’ actions. After discussions with House leadership and the state Republican Party, I have asked for his resignation,” Lefor said, according to the Williston Herald. “There is no room in the legislature, or our party, for this behavior.”
North Dakota Republican Party Chairwoman Sandra Sanford described Rios’ actions and words as falling short of the party’s basic decency expectations. She stated that Rios endangered the community he was elected to serve and disrespected peace officers, violating the party’s core values, which is why she supports Lefor’s call for his resignation.
John Trandem, first vice chair of the North Dakota Republican Party, added that he hopes that Rios learns from this incident.
Over the past week, and most recently after the footage was released to the public, Rios has taken to the X platform to plead forgiveness for his behavior and show he has learned something: he is an addict.
In addition to his apology to the state, the Williston community, and to the local law enforcement, he apologized to “those who have lost loved ones to drunk drivers” and called his actions “reckless.”
Rios acknowledged his party’s call for him to “step aside” and said that he is “seriously mulling all aspects” of his future as a legislator. He further talked about what he is doing now to address his alcoholism and vows to get help.
“I will be prioritizing breaking my chemical dependency on alcohol, improving the interpersonal relations I have strained, and listening to our community,” he said in a post on X captioned in part “I have let a lot of people down.”
I have let a lot of people down and it is time for me to make it up to everyone. pic.twitter.com/r20RMZlc7L
— Rep. Nico Rios (@nico4nd23) December 27, 2023
Social media users replied to the post and said the best way for him to do that is to “resign.”
“It’s time to work on yourself, Nico. That starts with resignation. Clean slate time. The people need a leader and you need to restore your self. The longer you rationalize staying in office, the more certain recovery will elude you for good,” one person wrote.
Another person blasted him for his bigoted language, writing, “No excuse; just resign and get it over with. You don’t deserve to hold public office. BTW, what are you doing disparaging migrants when you at of Hispanic descent? You had to be a Republican to be such a hypocrite.”
One X user wrote, “Drunk words are sober thoughts,” and answered his question about if people know who he is, “We see who you are. Resign.”
