WASHINGTON — The Navy SEAL who shot Osama bin Laden has decided to reveal his identity and it is stirring controversy.
Rob O’Neill, a 38-year-old Montana native, was member of SEAL Team Six and shot and killed bin Laden during a raid in Pakistan on May 2, 2011.
O’Neill decided to go public after losing some of his military benefits for quitting the SEALs four years early. He served 16 years instead of the full 20 years.
He is set to give an interview to Fox News later this month, the Daily Mail reports.
O’Neill’s decisions to reveal his identity has upset some. A SEAL commander and master chief say he violated the SEAL code by going public, according to the Daily Mail.
Another SEAL has faced similar scrutiny.
In 2012, Matthew Bisonnette wrote a book — “No Easy Day” — about the mission to kill bin Laden. Other SEALs and the Pentagon expressed anger over the book, which was written under the pen name, “Mark Owen.”
O’Neill was deployed on more than a dozen tours of duty in active combat — some of which were in war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Daily Mail reports. In his 16 years as a SEAL, he was involved in more than 400 separate combat missions.
He has been portrayed in several movies, including “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Captain Phillips” and “Lone Survivor.”
When it comes to the security of O’Neill and his family, his dad, Tom O’Neill, told the Daily Mail that he’s not worried.
“People are asking if we are worried that ISIS will come and get us because Rob is going public,” Tom O’Neill told the Daily Mail. “I say I’ll paint a big target on my front door and say come and get us.”
Below is a video of O’Neill speaking during an event. O’Neill now speaks at various events as a motivational speaker through Leading Authorities.
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