Man arrested for throwing glass of water at controversial Iowa Rep. Steve King, police say

A man was arrested Friday for throwing a glass of water in the face of controversial Rep. Steve King at a local restaurant, police said.

Blake Gibbins, 26, allegedly approached King while he was eating lunch at Mineral City Mill and Grill restaurant in Fort Dodge, Iowa. He asked King if he was the congressman and then threw a glass of water on him, Fort Dodge police said in a press release. The release says others were also hit by the water, but no one was injured.

Gibbins was arrested on two counts of misdemeanor simple assault and one count of disorderly conduct, police said.

According to the press release, King was "specifically targeted due to his position as a United States Representative."

King, R-Iowa, has come under fire -- even by members of his own party -- for comments construed as racist and homophobic.

In January, King said in an interview with The New York Times that he didn't understand why the terms "white supremacy" and "white nationalism" were considered offensive.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., called the comments "beneath the dignity of the Party of Lincoln and the United States of America."

"Anyone who needs 'white nationalist' or 'white supremacist' defined, described and defended does lack some pretty common knowledge," Sen. Tim Scott, of South Carolina, the only black Republican in the Senate, wrote in a rebuke to King's comments in the Times.

King was removed from his committee assignments in January in the wake of his comments to the Times. While discussed, a censure vote was never held.

The House did vote on a "resolution of disapproval" against King. The vote was passed, 424-1, with only Democratic Rep. Bobby Rush voting against it -- saying censure was necessary.

The New York Times comments were just the latest in a number of controversial stances, including referring to Mexican immigrants as "dirt" last November and blasting a Supreme Court ruling making gay marriage legal.

King even denigrated Hurricane Katrina survivors just this week when he told a town hall in Iowa all they did was ask for help from FEMA, while people in Iowa help each other.

Gibbins, who is from Lafayette, Colorado, was released from Webster County Jail on bond.