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Ex-Navy SEAL Robert O'Neill who claims to have killed bin Laden banned from Delta after maskless selfie on flight

Robert O'Neill, who claimed to have shot the 9/11 mastermind dead in Pakistan in 2011, took a dig at the carrier on Twitter

Delta Air Lines banned a former Navy SEAL who was involved in the raid that nailed Osama bin Laden from flying after he posted a selfie on a flight without wearing a mask. The carrier confirmed this on Thursday, August 20. 

Robert O’Neill tweeted a picture of himself on Wednesday (August 19) morning without wearing a mask and captioned it: “I’m not a p----”. The tweet was deleted later. He later came up with more tweets expressing his surprise over Delta’s decision. In one, he said: “I just got banned from @Delta for posting a picture. Wow.” In the other, he tweeted a report on the same incident from the Washington Times to say: “I had my mask in my lap. Everyone has gone crazy..” In a third tweet made on Thursday, O'Neill took a dig at Delta saying: "Thank God it wasn’t @Delta flying us in when we killed bin Laden... we weren’t wearing masks..."

Meanwhile, a spokesperson from Delta told The Hill: “Part of every customer’s commitment prior to traveling on Delta is the requirement to acknowledge our updated travel policies, which includes wearing a mask. Failure to comply with our mask-wearing mandate can result in losing the ability to fly Delta in the future.”

Wearing of masks has become a major public debate as the coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc in the US by affecting more than 5.5 million people and killing 174,000-plus. Even President Donald Trump has been largely against it, inviting criticism from all quarters. 

In July, Delta CEO Ed Bastian said more than 100 people were added to the carrier’s no-fly list because they declined to sport a mask while flying. Delta has been asking its passengers to wear the face-gear on flights since May 1. Airlines for America (A4A), which represents major American airlines including Delta, said in June that customers could be put into the carrier's do-not-fly list if they did not comply with the mask-wearing regulation. Exemptions are being provided only when passengers are eating or drinking or those having medical issues. 

O’Neill faced a backlash after he posted a picture of him smiling on Twitter with the controversial caption. Many of his followers considered the tweet as a direct insult to the only other person seen in the picture: an elderly man wearing a US Marine Corps hat and mask. 

Tweet deleted by his wife, O'Neill clarifies

O’Neill, a former SEAL Team Six member, later took down the photo and clarified that it was done by his wife and stressed that he always abides by the mask rule and that particular tweet was just a joke. He also said that his controversial maskless photo was not a dig aimed at the Marine behind him, adding that he loves Marines. 

The 44-year-old O’Neill was among the dozens of special operators who stormed bin Laden’s hideout in Abbottabad in Pakistan in May 2011 during Operation Neptune Spear. The former SEAL later said that he was mentally prepared to face death as he entered the den of the 9/11 attacks mastermind but history was kind to the man as he ended up being the one who shot bin Laden dead. 

O’Neill told the Washington Post in November 2014 where he claimed to be the unnamed SEAL who was the first to go through the doorway to reach the Al Qaeda leader’s bedroom and shoot him. Two other SEALs later confirmed that O’Neill from Montana was the man who killed bin Laden to avenge the attacks of September 2001. The man was also criticized by some of his former colleagues who accused him of bragging about his act.