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Congress

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

Steve Nikoui's son Kareem Nikoui was killed in the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan

Chad Pergram By Chad Pergram , Stepheny Price Fox News
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Gold Star dad says charges for State of the Union interruption have not been dropped Video

Gold Star dad says charges for State of the Union interruption have not been dropped

Fox News' Aishah Hasnie provides a preview of the House hearing on the botched Afghanistan withdrawal and shares takeaways from her conversation with Steve Nikoui, who was arrested for interrupting Biden's State of the Union address.

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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. 

Sources told Fox News the DC AG's office decided not to prosecute in this case.

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

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

Steve Nikoui shouts during the State of the Union address

Steve Nikoui shouts as President Biden, not pictured, speaks during a State of the Union address at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, March 7, 2024. (Shawn Thew/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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. 

Steve Nikoui speaks in DC

Steve Nikoui speaks Tuesday to FOX News Channel Congressional correspondent Aishah Hasnie outside of a house hearing on the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. (Fox News)

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

REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS RALLY AROUND GOLD STAR FATHER ARRESTED AFTER HECKLING BIDEN AT SOTU

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

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McCaul

House Foreign Affairs Chair Michael McCaul called for charges against Gold Star dad Steve Nikoui 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.

Chad Pergram currently serves as a senior congressional correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC). He joined the network in September 2007 and is based out of Washington, D.C.