This article has been republished here with permission from The Associated Press. This content is shared here because the topic may interest Snopes readers; however, it does not represent the work of Snopes fact-checkers or editors.
ATLANTA (AP) – A former Navy SEAL who said he killed Osama bin Laden has been banned by Delta Air Lines after removing his face mask during a flight.
Robert O’Neill tweeted about his ban on Thursday, and the airline confirmed the action.
“Part of every customer’s commitment prior to traveling on Delta is the requirement to recognize our updated travel policies, including wearing a mask,” the airline said in a statement. “If you do not comply with our masked mandate, it may lose the ability to fly Delta in the future.”
All major U.S. airlines require passengers to wear face masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Delta says it has banned more than 100 passengers for violating the rule.
O’Neill posted a selfie showing himself, without a mask, on a Delta Connection flight Wednesday from Minneapolis to Newark, New Jersey. Other passengers in the photo, including a man across the aisle wearing a Marine Corps hat, wore masks. The tweet was later deleted.
In another tweet Thursday, O’Neill said, “Thank God it was not @Delta flew us in when we killed Laden … we did not wear masks …”
Thank God it was not @Delta flew us in when we were Laden killed … we did not wear masks …
– Robert J. O’Neill (@mchooyah) August 20, 2020
O’Neill first said in 2014 that he fired the shots that bin Laden killed during a 2011 raid on the terrorist’s compound in Pakistan. The U.S. government has not yet confirmed or denied the account. O’Neill later wrote a book about his time in the SEALs. He has 375,000 followers on Twitter.
