DC attorney general drops charges against Steve Nikoui for disruption of Congress during SOTU speech

Brian Schwalb, the Democratic attorney general in Washington, D.C., has dropped charges against Gold Star father Steve Nikoui for disrupting Congress during President Biden’s State of the Union speech earlier this month.

Nikoui is the father of Kareem Nikoui who was killed during the Biden Administration’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. 

Fox News learned of the decision Tuesday evening. The decision to drop the charges was confirmed by the Speaker’s Office. 

The DC AG’s office told Fox News that it decided not to prosecute in this case just as they have in the cases of protesters in the past.

GOLD STAR FATHER STEVE NIKOUI SAYS CHARGES FOR SHOUTING DURING BIDEN SOTU HAVEN’T BEEN DROPPED

Fox News was told that Nikoui was “thrilled and humbled,” and that there were tears when he heard the news from Rep. Darrel Issa of California.

Other families were also with him when he found out the news. 

Nikoui was a guest of Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., for the speech and interrupted the president, shouting “Abbey Gate!” 

U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) warned Nikoui and then removed him from the chamber and arrested him. 

USCP put out a statement that night stating that “disrupting the Congress and demonstrating in Congressional Buildings is illegal.”

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Mast, along with Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., Rep. Issa and House Foreign Affairs Chair Michael McCaul called for the charges to be dropped. 

 

Issa and Waltz wrote a letter to USCP Police Chief Tom Manger, imploring him to drop the charges.

However, the decision was up to Schwalb.