The charges against Gold Star Father Steve Nikoui for heckling President Joe Biden have been dropped.
On Tuesday, Fox News reported the attorney general of Washington, D.C., chose to drop the charges against Nikoui and pointed to other incidents of protesters not being prosecuted.
NEW: DC AG drops charges against Gold Star dad Steve Nikoui after several House Republicans complained. Nikoui shouted “Abbey Gate!” during the President’s State of the Union speech. -per @ChadPergram
— Aishah Hasnie (@aishahhasnie) March 20, 2024
Nikoui’s son, Kareem Nikoui, was of the 13 Marines killed during the withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
Steve Nikoui was arrested during Biden’s speech earlier this month, as Fox News reported, after he shouted “Abbey Gate” in reference to his son’s death.
“Nikoui was confronted by security during his outburst and demanded to stop but he refused. He was removed from the House Galleries and arrested by Capitol police on the misdemeanor charge of Crowding, Obstructing or Incommoding,” Fox explained.
Joe Biden gets heckled by Gold Star Father Steve Nikoui.
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) March 8, 2024
His son, Lance Col. Kareem Nikoui, was killed by a terrorist suicide bomber during Joe Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. pic.twitter.com/3BGGNguO6c
Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), who brought Nikoui as his guest, posted on X, “[Nikoui] was arrested because he cried out to [Joe Biden] to remember his son.”
“Joe Biden has never honored those killed at the Abby Gate and still hails the catastrophic withdrawal as a success!” he added.
Steve Nikoui, the father of fallen Marine LCpl. Kareem Nikoui, was my guest to #SOTU2024.
— Rep. Brian Mast (@RepBrianMast) March 8, 2024
He was arrested because he cried out to @JoeBiden to remember his son.
Joe Biden has never honored those killed at the Abby Gate and still hails the catastrophic withdrawal as a success! pic.twitter.com/m8Y0sUPLY6
In an interview with The Daily Wire after the moment, Nikoui said, “I wanted to go, but I also didn’t want to go. And when I was there, seeing the theatrics, the circus … it just got to me.”
He explained he started to cry when Biden asserted, “America is safer today than when I took office.”
“Do you remember that my kid was not safe?” he asked.
