The heckler who shouted at President Joe Biden in his State of the Union address on Thursday was the father of a Marine killed in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan, it has been revealed.
Steve Nikoui, who has now been arrested, shouted at the President as he said: "America is safer today than when I took office". Mr Nikoui then interrupted Biden's speech from the chamber's balcony to yell: “Abbey Gate! Second Battalion, First Marines!"
Capitol Police then escorted the 51-year-old out of the chamber at around 10.15pm and took him into custody. He was charged with crowding, obstructing or incommoding Congress, a misdemeanour that usually sees the offender released after paying a $50 fine.
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Biden gave a 68-minute speech during the State of the Union on Thursday (AFP via Getty Images)Mr Nikoui's son, Lance Corporal Kareem Nikoui, was killed by a suicide bomber outside Kabul International Airport in August 2021. He had been trying to process evacuees during the Biden administration's withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.
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Kareem died along with 12 other US service members in the blast. Biden did not address the August 2021 pullout of Afghanistan at any point during his 68-minute speech.
Two other fathers who are part of Gold Star families, those who have lost a loved one, an immediate family member, in active duty military service, said before Biden's speech that the president should be prepared for harsh criticism over his handling of the troops' withdrawal. Mark Schmitz, dad of Lance Corporal Jared Schmitz, who also died in the Kabul blast called the catastrophe a "totally epic screw-up"
Marine Kareem Nikoui, who died in the Kabul suicide bombing in August 2021, with his motherHe continued: "There’s been other people that have confirmed that information that Biden knew — damn good and well — that Afghanistan was going to fall." He added that he expected "a lot of heckling" ahead of Biden's address.
Representative Darrell Issa said to The New York Post that he offered private meetings with some families of the Marines who were killed at the White House, but these had been rebuffed. According to public polls, Biden's approval rating plummeted in August 2021 following the disaster, and it has never returned to net positive since.
Two federal reports that have been published since then have criticised the Biden administration for its “abrupt and uncoordinated” handling of the withdrawal. They found that the sudden pullout looked to locals like the US “was simply handing Afghanistan over to a Taliban government-in-waiting".
The reports failed to assign any responsibility for the deaths of the 13 marines in the Kabul bombing (Getty Images)However, the reports also failed to assign any responsibility for the deaths of the 13 Marines in the Kabul bombing, which was difficult for the families and loved ones of those who died. Mr Schmitz continued: “It’s despicable. I’m not holding my any my breath at all that we’re gonna get [it]."
"He didn't care. And he left all the munitions behind at Bagram [Airfield]," he added, referring to the $7 billion worth of US military equipment that remained in Afghanistan when the Taliban took it over.
"They have every right to say 'Where is that explanation? Where is that apology? Where is the legitimate investigation so it doesn’t happen to somebody else’s family?’" said Mr Issa. He added: “That’s why we’re honoured to have them here. It’s why we want them in the audience."
He expressed hope that "by some miracle, [Biden] says something that they feel at least meets them halfway". However, the President did not address his adminstration's decision to withdraw from Afghanistan at any point during his address.
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