A Gold Star father who was removed after yelling criticisms at President Joe Biden during his State of the Union speech on Thursday night was arrested.
Man Arrested For Shouting ‘United States Marines’ And ‘Abbey Gate’ At Biden During Speech | The Daily Wire https://t.co/tucn41ddmg
— James Roth (@jrwash1942) March 8, 2024
Steve Nikoui, the father of a U.S. Marine who was killed during the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, stood up during Biden’s speech on Thursday and yelled “United States Marines” and Abbey Gate” repeatedly. The words he yelled was in reference to the 13 U.S. service members killed in an attack at the Abbey Gate of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Afghanistan.
The service members included Nikoui’s son, Marine Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui.
The blame for the incident, in which up to 170 civilians were injured, has largely been put on the Biden administration as it happened during the administration’s botched Afghanistan withdrawal.
During his heckling of the president, Nikoui, 51, was confronted by security who asked him to stop. However, he refused their command and continued to shout.
He was then removed from the House Galleries and placed under arrest by Capitol Police on Crowding, Obstructing, or Incommoding Congress charges.
Nikoui had been a guest of House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Accountability and Oversight Chairman Brian Mast (R-FL), who said he invited the Gold Star father to the Capitol for the event to remind Biden of “the damage he has done to national security and American families.”
Speaking on Nikoui’s pain, Mast said, “Mr. Nikoui lost his son due to Joe Biden’s incompetence, and lost another son to grief over his brother being killed. This man and his family have given America more than I could personally bear and to attack him with a BS charge of “demonstrating” is a disgrace.”
About a year after Kareem’s death, his older brother, Dakota Halverson committed suicide next to his younger sibling’s memorial site on August 2022.
Aside from Nikoui’s son Kareem, the other service members who died during the 2021 attack in Afghanistan included Marine Corps Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza, 20, of Rio Bravo, Texas; Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, 20, of Jackson, Wyoming; Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz, 20, of St. Charles, Missouri; Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui, 20, of Norco, California; Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola, 20, of Rancho Cucamonga, California; Marine Corps Cpl. Hunter Lopez, 22, of Indio, California; Navy Hospitalman Maxton W. Soviak, 22, of Berlin Heights, Ohio; Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, 23, of Sacramento, California; Marine Corps Cpl. Daegan W. Page, 23, of Omaha, Nebraska; Army Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss, 23, of Corryton, Tennessee; Marine Corps Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo, 25, of Lawrence, Massachusetts and Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover, 31, of Salt Lake City, Utah.