North Dakota lawmaker made homophobic remarks to officer during DUI stop, bodycam footage shows

By JACK DURA
Associated Press

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Police bodycam footage shows a North Dakota lawmaker making homophobic and anti-migrant remarks to an officer who arrested him on a charge of driving drunk. State Rep. Nico Rios of Williston is due in municipal court on Feb. 5. In an email to The Associated Press on Friday, he apologized for his behavior. The officer wrote in his report that Rios “was verbally abusive, homophobic, racially abusive and discriminatory” toward him during the stop on Dec. 15. Rios was elected last year to the state House of Representatives. He sits on the House Judiciary Committee, a panel that handles law enforcement legislation.