Gold Star mother of Marine killed in disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal says it's 'BS' his father was arrested for heckling Biden during State of the Union - and reveals what she would say if she came face-to-face with the president

The mother of slain Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui, a Marine killed during the catastrophic Afghanistan withdrawal, has said it's 'BS' her ex-husband was arrested for heckling Biden during his State of The Union address.

Steve Nikoui, the father of slain Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui, shouted 'Remember Abbey Gate!' 'United States Marines!' and 'Abbey Gate!' from the balcony of the House chamber in the middle of the president's remarks Thursday. 

His son, Kareem, was killed by a suicide bomber during the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. 

After yelling at Biden from the guest seating, Nikoui was removed from the chamber by Capitol Police. 

Security quickly escorted Nikoui out of the chamber. Biden did not visibly react.

Shanna Chappell is seen with her soldier son Kareem Nikoui who was killed in Afghanistan during America's botched withdrawal 

Nikoui's father Steve Nikoui was removed from President Joe Biden's State of the Union speech for shouting about his son's death in Afghanistan 

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui, 20, of Norco, Calif. - one of 13 service members who were killed during the disastrous 2021 exit from Afghanistan 

'I was shocked because I thought it was complete BS that they arrested him,' Shana Chappell, 51, told the New York 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?'

Both Chappell's and Steve Nikoui's lives were turned upside down on August 26, 2021 when their son fell victim to a suicide bomber who targeted American troops at a military base outside Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.

Just two years out of high school, Nikoui was 20 years old, born in the same year that the war in Afghanistan started, died alongside 12 comrades as the last casualties of America's longest war.

Chappell told The Post that she new of ex-Steve Nikoui's plan to disrupt Biden's address by shouting their son's name.

'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 explained.

Nikoui, father of Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui, shouted out during Biden's State of the Union address

Security quickly escorted Nikoui out of the chamber. Biden did not visibly react

The 51-year-old was quickly removed from the public gallery and placed in handcuffs

Steve Nikoui, the father of slain Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui, gets a hero's welcome at the Dubliner pub on Capitol Hill after he was released from custody following his arrest for heckling Biden during the State of the Union

'They sent me videos of him yelling out United States Marine Kareem Nikoui and then getting arrested.'

His arrest did not last long however, video posted of Nikoui following the State of the Union around 1am shows him entering an Irish pub to loud applause after the lawmaker who brought him, Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., helped secure his release.

Nikoui was taken into custody on charges of crowding, obstructing or incommoding Congress — a misdemeanor typically resulting in a $50 fine. 

Video later shows Nikoui getting a hero's welcome as his friends chant his name and smother him with hugs.

Still, despite his release from detention, Republicans are throwing their support behind the Gold Star father. 

'My guest to [the State of the Union] was Steve Nikoui, a father whose son was killed because of Biden's incompetent Afghanistan withdrawal,' Mast posted on X Friday morning. 

Shana Chappell is seen in front of her truck decorated with decals memorializing her son, Marine Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui (pictured in February 2022)

Shana Chappell is seen with her two sons Dakota Halverson (left) and Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui, right

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 withdrawal in August 2021

'Biden wouldn't acknowledge him or take accountability for his son's death. Instead, they ARRESTED him. This is Biden's America.'

Shortly after the State of the Union DailyMail.com asked Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., a former Army Green Beret, his reaction to Nikoui's arrest. 

'That's shameful if he was arrested,' Waltz said. 'I was with the all of the Gold star families just before the speech.' 

Chappell blames Biden for her son's death and his brother's subsequent suicide. Dakota Halverson, 28, took his own life in August 2022.

Some 13 U.S. service members were killed in a suicide attack at the Abbey Gate of Hamid Karzai International Airport in 2021. It has since been revealed how the U.S. had two opportunities to disrupt the terror group behind the attack, but were thwarted by the need to work with the Taliban in the final chaotic days of the withdrawal from Afghanistan

The blast was outside The Baron Hotel, at the Abbey Gate of Kabul airport. Westerners were staying in the hotel before their evacuation flights

The Americans killed in the blast were: (left to right, starting with top row) Cpl. Daegan W. Page - Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo - Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover - Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza - Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum - Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui - Cpl. Hunter Lopez - Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz - Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss - Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez - Navy Corpsman Maxton W. Soviak - Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola - Sgt. Nicole L. Gee

Biden overrode the advice of generals and blindsided allies to push through with the evacuation.

Assumptions that the internationally recognized government would survive proved wrongheaded and they suffered defeat after defeat as the Taliban realized their backers were leaving. 

It meant Taliban gunmen closed on the capital Kabul before the U.S. could get out.

The result was that American officers had to rely on the militants they spent 20 years fighting to provide a security cordon around the airport, a cordon that ultimately failed to prevent a lone bomber detonating his bomb at Abbey Gate, one of the crowded entry points.

More than 160 Afghans also died.

Nikoui would send his family photos of him with his fellow Marines outside Kabul International Airport, before the devastating suicide attack 

In this handout photo provided by the U.S. Air Force, a U.S. Marine Corps carry team transfers the remains of Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui of Norco, California, on August 29, 2021 at Dover Air Force Base

A public memorial to Kareem Nikoui, 20

Biden traveled to Dover Air Force base for a ceremony known as a 'dignified transfer' when the American remains were returned home.

'To me, accountability would be this administration being gone — not in there anymore. 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,' Chappell said.

When asked what she would say if given the chance to speak directly to President Biden, she had some choice words.

'The first thing I would ask him is why he hasn't ever said our fallen 13 heroes' names? How come he's never talked about any of them? Why has he made a point to avoid saying their names? Honestly, I think he's a failure, he's destroying our country.

'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,' Chappel continued.

'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.'

Chappell is planning to vote for Donald Trump in November.