The GOP is calling for the dismissal of charges against the man arrested for heckling at President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech Thursday, the New York Post reported.
Steven Nikoui disrupted Biden’s speech and was arrested. His arrest came with a $50 bail and the prospect of a $500 fine or jail time, according to the New York Post. House Republicans are calling for the charges to be dropped as they pointed out the injustice of penalizing a father’s outcry over a personal and national tragedy. Republican Florida Rep. Mike Waltz has also offered to pay the fines related to the incident.
Gold Star dad gets hero’s welcome after release following arrest for heckling Biden https://t.co/S0wFqmKObf pic.twitter.com/TFtDaR5MsY
— New York Post (@nypost) March 8, 2024
Nikoui’s son, Marine Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui, died in the 2021 ISIS-K suicide bombing amid the chaotic evacuation from Kabul. The attack killed 13 service members, and this prompted a relentless quest for answers and accountability, according to the New York Post. (RELATED: UPDATED: Everything You Need To Know About Bombing In Afghanistan)
“They have every right to say, ‘Where is that explanation?’” Republican California Rep. Darrell Issa said of the Gold Star families, the New York Post reported. “’Where is that apology? Where is the legitimate investigation so it doesn’t happen to somebody else’s family?’”
After posting his bail, Nikoui was greeted with overwhelming support at the Dubliner Restaurant in Washington, D.C. Fellow Gold Star families rallied around Nikoui, and applauded his courage. Gold Star father Darin Hoover detailed Nikoui’s ordeal to the New York Post. “He was taken out in handcuffs,” Hoover told the New York Post. “And so we all sat there and waited and waited and waited — and gave him a hero’s welcome when he came in.”
“If you know Steve, he’s a very Christian man,” Hoover continued, adding that Nikoui had a Bible with him during his arrest.“He’d been thinking about it, and it’s been bugging him for a while because we haven’t gotten any of those answers … still nothing two and a half years later.”