The Gold Star father who heckled President Joe Biden about his bungled Afghanistan withdrawal during his State of the Union (SOTU) address last night was arrested for his disruption.
Steve Nikoui, 51, is the father of Lance Corporal Kareem Nikoui, a marine who was killed by a suicide bomber at the international airport of Kabul during Biden’s tumultuous Afghanistan withdrawal in August 2021.
“Abbey Gate!” he yelled at Biden while the president spoke of how the country is safer now than we he took office. “Second Battalion, First Marines!”
Abbey Gate was the airport entrance where the lethal bombing took place.
Joe Biden gets heckled by Gold Star Father Steve Nikoui.
His son, Lance Col. Kareem Nikoui, was killed by a terrorist suicide bomber during Joe Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. pic.twitter.com/3BGGNguO6c
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) March 8, 2024
Nikoui was escorted out around 10:15 p.m. and subsequently charged with “crowding, obstructing, or incommoding Congress,” a misdemeanor that usually carries a $50 fine.
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The man had been invited by Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), who wrote on X: “So much for the right to petition our government for the redress of grievances.” Mast helped arrange his release from the House Sergeant at Arms after his arrest.
The Sergeant at Arms is holding my State of the Union guest for yelling at @POTUS in protest because his son was killed in action at the Abbey Gate due to Biden’s incompetence.
So much for the right to petition our government for the redress of grievances.
— Rep. Brian Mast (@RepBrianMast) March 8, 2024
Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui was working to process evacuees at the airport when the bomber attacked, leading to the deaths of twelve other US service members.
Since then, two government reports have blamed the Biden administration for an “abrupt and uncoordinated” pullout process: a 2022 report from the House Foreign Affairs Committee and a 2023 Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR).
“There’s been other people that have confirmed that information that Biden knew — damn good and well — that Afghanistan was going to fall,” Mark Schmitz, the father of another fallen marine named Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz who died in the attack, told the New York Post. “I suspect tonight, there’s gonna be a lot of heckling.”
“It’s despicable. I’m not holding my breath at all that we’re gonna get [it],” Schmitz added. “He didn’t care. And he left all the munitions behind at Bagram [Airfield].”
Shane Devine is a writer covering politics, economics, and culture for Valuetainment. Follow Shane on X (Twitter).
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