OAN’s James Meyers
8:52 AM -Friday, March 8, 2024
The Gold Star father that heckled Joe Biden during his State of the Union Address has been arrested.
Advertisement
The man was identified as Steve Nikoui, the father of slain Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui, who was killed during the botched Afghanistan withdrawal under the Biden administration.
“America’s safer today than when I took office,” Biden, 81, was in the middle of saying before he was interrupted from the chamber’s balcony.
“Abbey Gate!” Steve Nikoui yelled down at the president. “Second Battalion, First Marines!”
Capitol Police then escorted Nikoui out of the chamber at approximately 10:15 p.m. and took him into custody.
Nikoui was charged with crowding, obstructing, or incommoding congress, which is a misdemeanor that typically results in the offender’s release after paying a $50 fine.
Abbey Gate is where Nikoui’s son and 12 other military personnel were killed by a suicide bomber during the chaotic withdrawal from Kabul on August 26, 2021.
Florida Republican Brian Mast (R-Fla.) invited Nokoui to the State of the Union Address as his guest.
“For the last three SOTU speeches, Joe Biden REFUSED to say the names of the 13 U.S. service members who were killed by his disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal,’ Mast wrote on X after the father’s protest. “I couldn’t support this effort more. Say their names!”
Mast also commented after the Gold Star father was escorted out of the Capitol building.
“Steve Nikoui, the father of fallen Marine LCpl. Kareem Nikoui, was my guest to the State of the Union.”
“He was arrested because he cried out to Joe Biden to remember his son.”
According to the New York Post, two other Gold Star fathers told the outlet that before Biden’s speech that he should expect harsh criticism before the State of the Union Address.
“There’s been other people that have confirmed that information that Biden knew — damn good and well — that Afghanistan was going to fall,” said Mark Schmitz, the father of Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz, calling the withdrawal “a totally epic screw-up.”
“I suspect tonight, there’s gonna be a lot of heckling,” he added.
Additionally, Waltz invited Gold Star mother Paula Knauss, who lost her son, Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss, after the explosion at the Afghanistan airport.
“He has yet to say that 13 names, whether to them privately, publicly, in a speech anywhere. It’s infuriating,” Waltz said.
Meanwhile, public polling showed Biden’s approval rating significantly decreased in August 2021, and has never returned back to the positive side.
The 46th president did not refer to the Afghanistan withdrawal at any point during his speech.
Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts
Be the first to comment