Grieving Gold Star mom in ‘shock’ at ex’s arrest
He’s in the same room as the man that he knows is responsible for our son’s death, so why was he arrested? — Gold Star mom Shana Chappell
The mother of a Marine killed during the United States’ botched withdrawal from Afghanistan expressed outrage Saturday that the fallen hero’s father was arrested for heckling President Biden during the State of the Union address.
“I was shocked because I thought it was complete BS that they arrested him,” Shana Chappell told The Post. “He shouldn’t have been arrested, he’s a Gold Star father. He’s in the same room as the man that he knows is responsible for our son’s death, so why was he arrested?”
Chappell, 51, of Lake Elsinore, Calif., said she’s still struggling nearly three years after her son, Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui, was killed by a suicide bomber at a military base outside Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul during the Biden administration’s disastrous withdrawal on Aug. 26, 2021.
The mom of five said she learned of ex-Steve Nikoui’s plan to disrupt
Biden’s State of the Union address by shouting their son’s name on Thursday and supported the 51year-old father’s confrontation.
“I obviously didn’t watch the State of the Union because I have a bad taste for Biden, but then all of a sudden, I started getting text messages from friends who said [Nikoui] got arrested,” Chappell said. “They sent me videos of him yelling out ‘United States Marine Kareem Nikoui’ and then getting arrested.”
Say their names, Joe
Steve Nikoui, who also yelled “Abbey Gate” during Biden’s speech, referring to the military base where his son was killed, was taken into custody on charges of crowding, obstructing or incommoding Congress — a misdemeanor typically resulting in a $50 fine.
Chappell said she “absolutely” blames Biden for Kareem’s death — as well as the subsequent suicide of his brother, Dakota Halverson,
28, in August 2022.
“To me, accountability would be this administration being gone — not in there anymore,” Chappell said. “The military advisers gone, not in there anymore. That, to me, is accountability. Are we going to get that? No, so then I’d like to see people lose their jobs.I’d like to see military advisers losing their jobs over this.”
She also revealed what she would say if she ever found herself face to face with Biden, 81.
“The first thing I would ask him is why he hasn’t ever said our fallen 13 heroes’ names,” she said. “How come he’s never talked about any of them? Why has he made a point to avoid saying their names?”
Chappell, who split from Nikoui in December 2022 after 27 years of marriage, said she plans to vote for presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in November.
A call for comment from White House officials was not immediately returned Saturday.