Father of Marine Killed in Afghanistan Arrested for Heckling Biden During State of the Union

The father of a U.S. Marine killed during the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan in 2021 has been arrested on a misdemeanor charge for disrupting President Joe Biden's State of the Union address on Thursday, RadarOnline.com can report.

Steve Nikoui, 51, was escorted out of the chamber and taken into custody after repeatedly yelling "Abbey Gate" during the president's speech. Abbey Gate is the entrance to Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan where a 2021 terrorist bombing killed 170 civilians and 13 U.S. service members including Nikoui's son, Lance Corporal Kareem Nikoui.

"Our officers warned him to stop and when he did not, the man was removed from the House Galleries and was arrested," a Capitol Police spokesperson confirmed in a statement.

Nikoui was charged with crowding, obstructing, or incommoding. "This is a routine charge on Capitol Hill," USCP officers told the New York Times. "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."

Nikoui, who had attended the State of the Union as a guest of Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), has been a vocal critic of Biden since the death of his son in 2021.

"They sent my son over there as a paper pusher and then had the Taliban outside providing security," he told The Daily Beast at the time. "I blame my own military leaders ... Biden turned his back on him. That's it."

In a blog post prior to Biden's speech, Mast said he was "honored" to have Nikoui as his guest, writing that his son was "killed in action as a result of President Biden's Disastrous decision making."

"By inviting Steve to join the State of the Union, I am reminding President Biden of the damage he has done to national security and American families," Mast continued.

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After Nikoui's arrest, Mast took to Twitter to express his outrage. "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," he wrote on X. "So much for the right to petition our government for the redress of grievances."

"Americans deserve to know the truth about how Biden killed 13 U.S. servicemembers with his disastrous withdrawal," he added. "They're so afraid of you knowing the truth that they ARRESTED my #SOTU guest."