{"id":16722,"date":"2024-03-09T00:46:21","date_gmt":"2024-03-09T00:46:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/09\/mccaul-calls-for-dropping-charges-against-gold-star-dad-who-protested-state-of-the-union\/"},"modified":"2024-03-09T00:46:21","modified_gmt":"2024-03-09T00:46:21","slug":"mccaul-calls-for-dropping-charges-against-gold-star-dad-who-protested-state-of-the-union","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/09\/mccaul-calls-for-dropping-charges-against-gold-star-dad-who-protested-state-of-the-union\/","title":{"rendered":"McCaul calls for dropping charges against Gold Star dad who protested State of the Union"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, called for the charges against the Gold Star father who interrupted President Biden\u2019s State of the Union address to be dropped.<\/p>\n

Steve Nikoui, 51, is the father of Marine Corps Lance Corporal Kareem Nikoui, one of the 13 U.S. service members killed when an ISIS-K suicide bomber detonated outside of Hamid Karzai International Airport during the U.S. military\u2019s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He was arrested by U.S. Capitol Police on Thursday evening after shouting \u2018Abbey Gate\u2019 multiple times from the House gallery during Biden\u2019s speech. Abbey Gate was the location of the 2021 attack.<\/p>\n

McCaul revealed to reporters on Friday morning that Nikoui told him earlier\u00a0about his intention to interrupt the address.<\/p>\n

\u2018I talked to Steve prior to his announcement on the floor. I said, look, this is between you and your god and your conscience and your son, and the other families,\u2019 McCaul said. \u2018I think they feel that their children have been completely, you know, blown off by this administration, the president\u2019s never called to say \u2018I\u2019m sorry.\u2019 And that is why he spoke up.\u2019<\/p>\n

The senior Republican warned the Gold Star dad that he would likely be escorted off the House floor if he protested.<\/p>\n

\u2018I didn\u2019t encourage him to do it\u2026 it was his choice to make, and it was a powerful one,\u2019 McCaul said.<\/p>\n

Law enforcement said Nikoui was arrested on charges of crowding, obstructing or incommoding. He was a guest of Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla.<\/p>\n

McCaul called the charges \u2018petty.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I guess he resisted arrest, and I get that, I was a federal prosecutor many years, but in this type of case, I mean, the charges seem a little overbearing given the fact this is a man who lost his son in Abbey Gate to the bombing in a really screwed up situation,\u2019 McCaul said.<\/p>\n

The Texas Republican\u2019s committee has been actively investigating the August 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal and the decisions that led to it.<\/p>\n

Fox News Digital reached out to Nikoui, U.S. Capitol Police, Mast\u2019s office and Speaker Mike Johnson\u2019s office, but did not immediately hear back.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, called for the charges against the Gold Star father who interrupted President Biden\u2019s State of the Union address to be dropped. Steve Nikoui, 51, is the father of Marine Corps Lance Corporal Kareem Nikoui, one of the 13 U.S. service members killed when an ISIS-K suicide bomber <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":16723,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-16722","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16722\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}