A former Navy Seal famous for his role in killing Osama Bin Laden has been fired by Delta Airlines after they banned him from wearing a mask during a flight.
Robert O’Neill, who says he was the one who actually shot and killed Bin Laden during a robbery in 2011, was criticized after he posted a photo online of himself wearing no mask while on board a flees like.
“I’m not ap ***,” O’Neill tweeted next to his selfie smiling as he sat on his seat.
A number of people criticized O’Neill for the tweet, including those who thought it was in reference to a elderly man wearing a U.S. Marine Corps hat, which is seen in the background wearing a mask.
Get your unlimited Newsweek trial>
In a series of tweets, O’Neill claimed that his wife later deleted the tweet, while also appearing to be joking as a joke about the controversy he caused with the original post. O’Neill also said the selfie was not an attack on the man wearing a USMC hat.
“I’m not the bad boy. I killed the bad boy,” he wrote. In another tweet, O’Neill said: “I shook thousands of hands and gave thousands of hugs this week. I flew on some planes. I will live new week.”
“Keep in mind, Twitter: No jokes allowed !!,” he admitted.
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
Get your unlimited Newsweek trial>
In a tweet sent the other day, O’Neill said, “I’m just banned from @Delta for posting a photo. Wow.” He also claimed he had a mask on his lap when he posted his selfie.
In a statement to the Associated Press, Delta confirmed the Navy Seal was banned for violating its mask policy.
“Part of every customer’s commitment prior to traveling on Delta is the requirement to recognize our updated travel policy, which includes wearing a mask,” the airline said.
“Failure of our mask wearing mandate could result in the loss of the ability to fly Delta in the future.”
In another tweet about the incident, O’Neill wrote: “Thank God it was not @Delta flew us in when we were Laden killed … we did not wear masks …”
Comedy Steve Hofstetter was one of those who responded to O’Neill’s apparent joke.
“Delta is a commercial airline, Bin Laden was not killed during a pandemic, and other people on Seal Team 6 have said you did not kill him,” Hofstetter sei.
“Do you have anyone in your life who can say ‘Hey, Robert, maybe not tweet this?'”
O’Neill has been contacted for further comment.
Phillip Pharaoh / Getty
