A Gold Star father was arrested for heckling President Joe Biden during his State of the Union address on Thursday night.
Police say that Steve Nikoui, 51, was arrested for violating the D.C. Code after continuing to yell at the president despite officers warning him to stop. His son, Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui, was one of the 13 U.S. service members killed in an ISIS-K bombing during the American withdrawal from Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 26, 2021.
“This is a routine charge on Capitol Hill. People who illegally demonstrate/disrupt Congress typically are released after they pay a $50 fine, so the misdemeanor charge is resolved without going to court,” a U.S. Capitol Police spokesperson told the Washington Examiner.
Nikoui, invited to the speech by Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), appeared to reference Marines in his heckling of the president.
“I am honored to have Steve Nikoui as my guest to the State of the Union. He is the father of Marine Lance Corporal Kareem Nikoui, who was KIA due to Joe Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan,” Mast said in a social media post. “Joe Biden may try to turn the page on Afghanistan after his incompetence cost American lives, but NOT ON MY WATCH.”
The service members were killed when an ISIS-K terrorist carried out a suicide bombing outside the gates of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. About 170 Afghan civilians were killed in addition to the 13 U.S. troops.
The bombing occurred as U.S. forces were carrying out mass evacuations for Americans and vulnerable Afghan allies. The Taliban overthrew the U.S.-backed government and its U.S.-trained military less than two weeks before the bombing, which prompted the Biden administration to announce noncombatant evacuation operations.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“Well, you know it’s interesting because I just walked by congressman Jamaal Bowman, who intentionally pulled the fire alarm — which is a felony in the District of Columbia, and he was not arrested,” Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) said of the arrest. “If Gold Star families are being arrested and a member of Congress was not arrested for committing a felony, that’s not right.”
Rachel Schilke contributed to this story.
