Who is Brian William O'Shea? Naomi Wolf married disabled US Army vet she hired for security
Journalist Naomi Wolf has made headlines once again by allegedly spreading misinformation about Covid-19 and vaccines that got her banned from Twitter on Friday, June 4. Because of her controversial statements she has received a number of threats online, which incidentally, introduced her to the love of her life.
Wolf's first marriage was in 1993 to journalist David Shipley, then an editor at The New York Times and currently is the executive editor of Bloomberg. The couple had two children, a son, and a daughter before divorcing in 2005. On November 23, 2018, Wolf married Brian William O'Shea, a disabled US Army veteran, private detective, and owner of Striker Pierce Investigations.
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Who is Brian William O'Shea?
Brian O'Shea is the chief executive of Striker Pierce Investigations, a detective agency with offices in Washington, New York, and Alexandria, Virginia. Apart from providing consultation in support of survivors of sexual assault and other crimes, his company focuses on litigation support and corporate fraud issues, a 2018 New York Times article reported.
He last served with a special forces unit in the Southern Philippines in the days after the September 11 attacks. He was honorably discharged as a staff sergeant and was last based at Fort Lewis, in Washington, with the 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), now known as Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
O'Shea, whose father was a doughnut shop owner and mother a nurse, graduated from the Army’s Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in Monterey, California, and received a master’s degree in criminal justice from Boston University.
How did Wolf meet O'Shea?
According to the NYT article, Wolf and O'Shea met in 2014 after the former faced threats on the internet after she reported on human rights violations in the Middle East. Her contacts recommended O'Shea at the time.
In a 2019 interview with the Guardian, she opened up about her relationship with O'Shea after being teased by the interviewer about the unlikely scenario that she would be married to a detective. During the interview, Wolf tried to play coy and tried to pretend at first not to know what the interviewer was talking about but eventually, she did confess. “I do feel very happy,” she said grinning. “In 2014, I was getting some blowback about what I’d said about Israel/Palestine; some serious threats online. I needed to consult a security firm, and Brian was recommended to me. We were very appropriate for a long time. He took care of my security issues, and then that turned into something else… And yes, it does go to show that you do not know what is around the corner.”
They initially embarked on what O'Shea once described as “a very professional relationship,” as he accompanied her to any event with potential threats. “We went to a lot of geopolitical events, and I admired how she handled herself,” he said. “She wasn’t afraid to ask tough questions, and she was always concerned with getting to the root of a problem, rather than trying to come away with the best sound bite.”
Wolf was also impressed with O’Shea. “He did a great job taking care of all of the harassment issues, which made my life so much better,” she said. “I really respected him for that, and was very grateful.”
Soon love followed
Even after his job as Wolf's protector was over, they continued to meet each other. “At that point, I felt like he was my best friend; I was completely at home and at peace in his presence,” Wolf said. “Not only is he brave and honorable, but he’s kind to everybody, including my children, and he has a great Irish sense of humor.”
She began attending events to which he was invited, which he loved. “I loved her company; she was a very good listener who brought to my world a kind of selflessness I had not previously known,” O’Shea said. “When she wasn’t able to go somewhere with me, I would sometimes get annoyed, and it got to the point where I stepped back and asked myself, ‘Why does it bother me when she’s not around?’" He added: “The answer was obvious. I was in love with her.”