As General Mark Milley testifies before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday, Congressman Darrell Issa, who has been spotlighting the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, sent a letter to the United States Capitol Police requesting that they drop charges against the Gold Star father who was arrested during Biden's State of the Union earlier in March.
In the letter, exclusively obtained by Townhall, Issa writes to Thomas Manger, the chief of Capitol Police, that Steve Nikoui — who was charged with crowding, obstructing, or incommoding Congress — should face no charges.
“Though he interrupted the event, what Mr. Nikoui voiced out loud was a cry for the acknowledgment of the loss endured by the families of the 13 who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country,” Issa wrote.
Steve’s son Kareem Nikoui was killed alongside 12 others during President Biden‘s failed withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021. This month, Steve was arrested for shouting “Abbey Gate! Kareem Nikoui! Second Battalion, First Marines!” during Biden’s State of the Union address — which is unusual, given that a protester during one of Donald Trump’s State of the Union addresses, for example, was escorted out but not arrested.
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
Abbey Gate is where Steve’s son was killed, alongside 12 other American servicemembers, on August 26th, 2021. Following Steve’s outburst, he told me that he did not resist arrest, but was escorted out to the Capitol Police headquarters, where he remained for almost three hours.
In Issa’s letter, he wrote that “over the past year, I have had the honor of getting to know Mr. Nikoui. He is a man of kindness and integrity, whose actions are driven by an unwavering love of country and a deep commitment to honoring the memory and sacrifices of his son and the other fallen heroes of Abbey Gate.”
Beyond just Kareem’s death in Kabul, his brother, Dakota Halverson, took his own life shortly before the first anniversary of his death. Based on these tragic facts, Issa wrote to Chief Manger: “I implore you to review this situation carefully, taking into consideration his profound loss, the context of his actions, and the apparently disproportionate punishment sought for him — but not for others who have similarly disrupted the State of the Union address.” Issa is “confident [Manger] will find him to be an upstanding citizen filled with love for his nation, integrity, and honor.”
The timing is likely no coincidence given that Generals Milley and McKenzie are testifying about the withdrawal from Afghanistan throughout the afternoon on Tuesday where some of their critics expect them to use the opportunity to rewrite history and absolve themselves of any meaningful responsibility for the deadly disaster the withdrawal became.
Steve currently has a trial date set for later this month. If Issa has his way, he’ll never have to show up.
The State of the Union wasn't the first time one of Lance Cpl. Nikoui's parents sought recognition for their son's valiant sacrifice from the commander-in-chief who botched America's departure from Afghanistan. As Townhall reported previously, Nikoui's mother Shana Chappell unloaded on Biden in a statement after he failed to mention the 13 fallen heroes of Kabul in his 2022 State of the Union address, either.
Townhall also spoke with Chappell just before the first anniversary of the ISIS-K suicide bombing of Abbey Gate.
Spencer Brown contributed to this report.