The father of a Marine killed in Afghanistan was arrested for interrupting President Joe Biden's State of the Union speech Thursday night, Capitol Police said.
Steven K. Nikoui's son, Marine Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui, was killed in a suicide bombing during the chaotic evacuation of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in 2021. A guest of Republican Rep. Brian Mast, the elder Nikoui yelled out "Abbey Gate, Abbey Gate" during the address, in reference to the location where his son was killed.
Capitol Police officers warned Nikoui to stop, then removed him from the chamber when he did not. He was charged with a misdemeanor. "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," police said in a statement.
Nikoui and his wife, Shana Chappell, have said they blame Biden for America's disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan that caused their son’s death. Twelve other service members were killed alongside their son in the suicide bombing.
Kareem Nikoui's older brother, Dakota Halverson, died by suicide in 2022, a few days before the first anniversary of Kareem's death. Chappell has said that Halverson was still grieving his brother's death.
Mast criticized Biden for Nikoui's arrest in a post on X, saying that he was arrested "because he cried out to @JoeBiden to remember his son."
Nikoui is not the first State of the Union guest to be ejected for disrupting the president. In 2020, Fred Guttenberg, father of slain Parkland student Jamie Guttenberg, shouted at then-President Donald Trump during his speech. He was similarly detained by Capitol Police.