Robert O’Neill, the former Navy SEAL who claimed to be the Team 6 member who killed Osama bin Laden in a May 2011 raid, has been banned by Delta Airlines from its flights for refusing to wear a mask on a flight, USA Today reports.
O’Neill had posted a photograph of himself sitting aboard a Delta flight without a mask, in a since-deleted tweet in which he mocked those who were wearing masks as wimps (although he used more insulting language).
O’Neill has since claimed that the tweet was a joke and that he had his mask in his lap, but Delta requires all passengers are required to wear masks on their planes unless under certain circumstances.
“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,” airline spokesman Anthony Black reiterated in a statement to USA TODAY. “Failure to comply with our mask-wearing mandate can result in losing the ability to fly Delta in the future.”
O’Neill apparently likes to be the center of attention. His claims to have been bin Laden’s killer has drawn sharp rebukes from within the special forces community who view his boasts as a quest for personal glory in a community where individual actions and squad operations are rarely discussed publicly.