Former Navy SEAL Rob O’Neill claims he stared at Osama bin Laden in the face “for a second.” Going against protocol, the operative revealed his identity, and says he was the one who fired the fateful shot that killed the most wanted man in American history.
The manhunt to catch the mastermind behind the September 11, 2001 attacks, which leveled the Twin Towers, badly damaged the Pentagon, and brought down airliners full of innocent victims, went on for 10 years, until justice caught up with bin Laden in a safe house in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on May 2, 2011.
In an exclusive interview, nailed by up-and-coming reporter Peter Doocy of Fox News , O’Neill says that he was the man who stared evil in the eye for a split second, before putting three bullets in his head, ending 10 agonizing years for families who lost loved ones in the worst attacks on America’s mainland. Despite strict rules that prohibit SEALS from revealing details of their very secretive missions, O’Neill says he was moved to do so for a very powerful reason.
Last summer, the former Navy SEAL went to the World Trade Center Memorial site — where the Twin Towers came down — to donate the shirt and flag he was wearing when the raid to kill bin Laden took place. Unbeknownst to him, he found himself in front of a group of 9/11 families making an impromptu speech and following some emotional encounters, he decided to go public against all advice.
“I very quickly recognized him and then it was just pop, pop, pop.” the former Navy SEAL said of the historic moment in a two-part special called The Man Who Killed Osama bin Laden .
His account has been contradicted by a team member of the assault SEAL Team 6 in the book No Easy Day , in which Matt Bissonnette (a pseudonym) says he is the man who killed the most wanted terrorist. O’Neill has a simple explanation, and does not hold resentment towards his former colleague.
“War is foggy,” he explained to Doocy, adding, “I think the author is telling the story as he saw it, and based on the debrief he had.”
O’Neill says he would be willing to take “10 lie detector tests” if he must, as he is 100 percent sure that Osama bin Laden was standing upright when he walked in the room where the terror mastermind was holed up.
The former SEAL also defended his public revelations saying, “I don’t think I’m saying anything that hasn’t been confirmed.”
As controversial as O’Neill’s revelations have been, he is not the first to tell about what happened during the Osama bin Laden raid. Other operatives served as consultants for the film Zero Dark Thirty , which tells of the events that led to the terrorist’s death. Many have written memoirs on said events.
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[Image via Ciudadpc/Desinformado ]