The arrest of a key figure in the 2021 Abbey Gate bombing in Afghanistan is a "big step," but it's only the start of a long process of bringing some solace after the deaths of 13 American service members, Darin Hoover, the Gold Star father of one of the victims, U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Darin Taylor Hoover, said Thursday on Newsmax.
"We've got many more to go after, but it brings us a little bit of solace that we were able to at least get this one," Hoover said on "Wake Up America." "[From] the overwhelming emotions that took us all over that afternoon when we were told, it's a big step, but it's a first step in where we're going from here."
Hoover, who said he has been in constant contact with President Donald Trump over the past few years but not with former President Joe Biden, added that Trump called the family, in a prearranged conversation, a few hours before his address to Congress to say that the suspect had been arrested.
The White House identified the man as Mohammad Sharifullah and described him as having "orchestrated the Abbey Gate attack."
But even with the arrest, Hoover said that his family will always feel the grief after their son's death at the Kabul airport, which was attacked by terrorists during a chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan by the U.S.
"He's not going anywhere for the rest of his life," Hoover said. "It gives us more drive in order to bounce us forward in the next things that we've got to get done."
However, Hoover decried the reaction in Congress when Trump announced the arrest to the rest of the world, with Democrats remaining in their seats while Republicans stood and cheered.
"It's the same thing we've seen for the past eight, 10 years," he said. "Let them do their thing. They're a part of the past. Now, if that's the way they want to act, then so be it. It's disgusting. It's gross, and I don't understand it. We're all Americans."
Trump, he added, is the "most powerful man in the United States," so the Democrat lawmakers should have joined in the applause for him.
"Stand up, clap once in a while," said Hoover. "Acknowledge the things that he is bringing out. My goodness, they sat there when a little 13-year-old who was just a cancer survivor was [named] to be the newest member of the Secret Service. If that doesn't make you get up and clap, I fear for our society at some point because this is unacceptable."
Hoover also called for Americans to stand together and back the military.
"We've got our men and women in harm's way," Hoover said. "They're joining up. They are excited to be a part of our military. And gosh dang it, we've got to come together, and we've got to back them.
"Because without the military and without our veterans, this country isn't what she is right now. She's going down the hole, and we can't have that. We need strong leaders. And by those strong leaders, in my personal opinion, need to be those that come out of the military."
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