A former Navy Seal famous for his role in the killing of Osama Bin Laden has hit out at Delta Airlines after they banned him for not wearing a mask during a flight.
Robert O'Neill, who says he was the one who actually shot and killed Bin Laden during a raid in 2011, was criticized after he posted a photo online of him not wearing a mask while on board a flight.
"I'm not a p***y," tweeted O'Neill alongside the selfie of him smiling while sat at his seat.
A number of people criticized O'Neill for the tweet, including those who thought it was it was in reference to an elderly man wearing a United States Marine Corps hat, who is seen in the background wearing a mask.
In a series of tweets, O'Neill claimed that his wife later deleted the tweet while also appearing to inflame or 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 am not the bad guy. I Killed the bad guy," 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'll be alive next week."
"Keep in mind, Twitter: No joking allowed!!," he added.
Thank God it wasn’t @Delta flying us in when we killed bin Laden... we weren’t wearing masks...
— Robert J. O'Neill (@mchooyah) August 20, 2020
In a tweet sent the next day, O'Neill said: "I just got banned from @Delta for posting a picture. Wow." He also claimed that 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 their mask policy.
"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," the airline said.
"Failure to comply with our mask-wearing mandate can result in losing the ability to fly Delta in the future."
In yet another tweet discussing the incident, O'Neill wrote: "Thank God it wasn't @Delta flying us in when we killed bin Laden... we weren't wearing masks..."
Comedian Steve Hofstetter was one of those who responded to O'Neill's apparent joke.
"Delta is a commercial airline, Bin Laden wasn't killed during a pandemic, and other people on Seal Team 6 have said you didn't kill him," Hofstetter said.
"Do you have no one in your life who can say 'Hey, Robert, maybe don't tweet this one?'"
O'Neill has been contacted for further comment.
