Former Democratic Presidential candidate Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., came to the defense of the father of a Marine who was arrested after Thursday’s State of the Union during which he shouted at President Joe Biden.
“As a Gold Star Son myself, I can only imagine the pain he has felt since losing his son in Afghanistan,” Phillips wrote on X, formerly Twitter, Friday evening “No one should interrupt a State of the Union Address, but if Marjorie Taylor Greene wasn’t arrested for her outbursts, why should he?”
Steve Nikoui, 51, is the father of a U.S. Marine who was killed during the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. Nikoui was escorted out of the House Galleries during Biden’s speech Thursday after he stood up and began yelling “Abbey Gate” repeatedly.
The heckling was a reference to an attack at the Abbey Gate of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Afghanistan that occurred during the military’s withdrawal from the country.
The surprise attack killed 13 U.S. service members and injured at least 170 civilians — including Nikoui’s son, Marine Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui.
Capitol Police said he was arrested on charges for crowding, obstructing or incommoding. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, recently called for the charges against Nikoui to be dropped.
Nikoui was in attendance as a guest of Rep. Brian Mast’s, R-Fla. The representative reacted to Nikoui’s arrest shortly after it happened, writing on X, “The Sergeant at Arms is holding my State of the Union guest for yelling at @POTUS in protest because his son was killed in action at the Abbey Gate due to Biden’s incompetence. So much for the right to petition our government for the redress of grievances.”
Mast is the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Accountability and Oversight.
Phillips also name-dropped Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., in his post on X.
Greene, who donned a red “Make America Great Again” hat, shouted at Biden “Say her name!” while he was discussing the border crisis. Greene was referencing Laken Riley, the 22-year-old Georgia nursing student, who was allegedly killed by a Venezuelan migrant in the country illegally last month.
Greene had also given Biden a pin that read, “Say her name Laken Riley.”
This incident at the State of the Union has sparked a debate on the right to protest and the treatment of Gold Star families. Stay tuned for more updates on this developing story.
