Netflix’s newest documentary American Manhunt: Osama bin Laden chronicles the hunt for Osama bin Laden but leaves out one quite important detail of the story - the Navy Seal who claims he is the one who shot Osama bin Laden.
Netflix use interviews with Robert O’Neill, a former Navy Seal who claims he is the man who shot and killed Osama bin Laden.
The issue is, however, that O’Neill is not the only person who claims to have been the man to take the kill shot on the Al-Qaeda terrorist who orchestrated 9/11.
Who is Robert O’Neill and when did he first say he killed bin Laden?
O’Neill enlisted in the US military in 1996, joining the US Navy Seals later that year.
He would go on to receive a host of medals, including two Silver Stars, before being discharged in late 2012, according to Freedom of Information Requests that revealed his military record.
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O’Neill first spoke about how he claimed to be the man who killed bin Laden in 2013 in an anonymous interview with Esquire titled The Man Who Killed Osama bin Laden... Is Screwed, criticising how veterans are treated in America.
He would go on to become public about claiming to be the one to kill bin Laden in 2014.
O’Neill has done regular interviews since then, detailing how he ended the life of the world’s most infamous terrorist.
Who is the other Navy Seal who claims to have been the man to kill bin Laden?
Matt Bisonnette, a former Navy Seal and author, was actually the first man to claim to have been the one to fire the shot that killed bin Laden.
Bisonette published a book in 2012 titled No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission that Killed Osama bin Laden, detailing how he was the man to fire the shot.
According to Bissonette's recollection of events, he and another comrade, who he has refused to name as O'Neill, shot bin Laden several times.
This eventually led him to get into a legal battle with the United States government, being forced to pay over $5 million dollars in past and future royalties after he failed to submit his book for a security review by the Pentagon before it was published.
A spokesperson for the US Department of Justice told ABC News at the time that the enforcement action 'does not discredit Mr. Bissonnette's military service', but reinforces the importance of service members 'in positions of trust' to 'to comply with the obligations set forth in their non-disclosure agreements to protect classified information after leaving the U.S. military and government in an effort to protect our nation's national security'.
Both Bisonette and O’Neill have been heavily criticised by the Navy Seal community in the US for breaching a widely accepted ‘code silence’.
He said regarding O'Neill's account: "I think there are some major inconsistencies, and information is lacking in the story. I think there are some inconsistencies. Some large ones."
Meanwhile, NBC News reports that O'Neill told the Washington Post that at least two other seals, including Bissonnette, also fired shots.
What is discussed in the Netflix doc, American Manhunt?
In the Netflix documentary, the streamer interviewed O’Neill’s for his recollection of events.
O’Neill describes how he entered bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan alongside other members of Seal Team Six, with his fellow Seal killing bin Laden’s 20-year-old son Khalid in the process.
He then says: “Standing in front of me, two feet away, is Osama bin Laden. It was one of those moments in life where time did slow down.
“He’s taller than I thought, he’s skinnier than I thought, his beard was grey but I recognised his nose.”
He then finally said: “It’s definitely him, he is not surrendering, he is a threat to not just me but my entire time. He has to die.”
American Manhunt: Osama bin Laden is available to stream on Netflix now.
Topics: Netflix, Osama bin Laden, TV and Film, TV, Documentaries
Michael Slavin