The father of a U.S. Marine killed in the August 2021 Abbey Gate bombing in Afghanistan was arrested at last night’s State of the Union address.
U.S. Capitol Police arrested Steve Nikoui, 51, after he refused to stop interrupting President Joe Biden’s speech with shouts of “Abbey Gate.” Like other Gold Star families, Nikoui blasted members of the Biden administration over the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan which culminated in the Kabul airport bombing on August 26, 2021. (RELATED: GOP Senator Caught Agreeing With Biden Amidst Boos From Colleagues)
At least 183 people perished in the attack, including the 13 U.S. service members. Nikoui’s son, Lance Corporal Kareem Nikoui, was among them.
The Daily Beast reports:
Capitol Police told Axios that officers told Nikoui to stop but he persisted, at which point he was taken out of the gallery and arrested. A spokesperson for the agency said he was charged with a local misdemeanor charge of “crowding, obstructing or incommoding.”
Capitol Police separately told The New York Times that the charge is “routine” on Capitol Hill and that people who “who illegally demonstrate/disrupt Congress typically are released after they pay a $50 fine, so the misdemeanor charge is resolved without going to court.”
Nikoui told The Daily Beast at the time of his son’s death that he considered Biden to be responsible. “They sent my son over there as a paper pusher and then had the Taliban outside providing security,” Nikoui said at the time. “I blame my own military leaders… Biden turned his back on him. That’s it.”
He added that he was happy his son joined the Marines when Donald Trump was president. “I really believed this guy didn’t want to send people into harm’s way,” he said.
Nikoui attended the speech as a guest of Rep. Brian Mast, a Republican from Florida.
Mast expressed his gratitude for having Nikoui as his guest in a written statement. He later expressed outrage at Nikoui’s treatment following the disruption.
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