The mother of a Marine killed during the US’ botched withdrawal from Afghanistan on Saturday called “BS” on the fallen hero’s father getting arrested for heckling President Biden during his 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 to survive 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 botched 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 51-year-old’s staged 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.”
Steve Nikoui, who 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 Saturday. “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 continued.
“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 Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president in November.
“Honestly, I think he’s a failure, he’s destroying our country,” she said of Biden.
“He’s done no good for our country in any way, shape or form. All he does is spill lies out of his mouth, trying to convince people he’s doing a great job when the proof is he’s doing a horrible job.
“We’ve got wide-open borders, we’ve got more homeless people than ever, crime higher than it’s ever been, inflation — he’s destroying our country.”
A message seeking comment from White House officials was not immediately returned Saturday.
Chappell, meanwhile, was left in a “state of shock” following the deaths of Kareem and Halverson, she said.
“When it was approaching the one-year mark, I started feeling suicidal,” Chappell said.
“And then my son Dakota took his life, which made me extremely suicidal. My heart was crushed — I felt like there was no reason to go on living. I had no hope; I had no will to live.”
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Joshua Rhett Miller
