In what has become an embarrassing annual tradition (that, naturally, only happens when a Democrat is president), a conservative heckler interrupted President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address with loud shouting.
While it was difficult to tell in the moment, the unidentified man shouted in part, “Remember Abbey Gate! U.S. Marines,” referring to the deadly 2021 terror attack in Afghanistan, and related words for about 8 seconds. He was then escorted out in handcuffs.
Watch the clip below:
“Abbey Gate” is a reference to the suicide bombing terror attack at Kabul International Airport in August 2021 toward the end of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from the country. At 5:30 p.m. local time, the suicide bomber detonated an explosive belt at Abbey Gate, one of the gates at the airport where a large number of local and foreign civilians were waiting to be evacuated from the country.
The explosion killed at least 183 people, most of whom were Afghans. Thirteen U.S. military personnel were killed as well, 11 of them Marines. The terrorist group known as the Islamic State – Khorasan Province claimed responsibility for the attack, and the U.S. bombed sites said to be held by IS-KP a few days later. Since then, conservatives opposed to the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan — a policy actually initiated by Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump — have attempted to blame Biden personally for the attack.
For those wondering, Biden was not actually speaking about any related topic when the shouting started. The identity of the man shouting or why he chose that moment are not known.
UPDATE: The man has been identified as the father of a U.S. Marine who was killed in the attack.