Robert O'Neill, the former Navy SEAL who garnered fame – and courted controversy – by claiming to have been personally responsible for the death of Usama bin Laden during the administration of former President Barack Obama, was reportedly arrested in Frisco, Texas, as Fox News reports.
O'Neill, now 47, is facing charges of misdemeanor assault resulting in bodily injury as well as public intoxication, as explained Saturday by the New York Post.
Texas arrest reported
Citing a report from the Dallas Morning News, the Post indicated that Frisco police did not release additional information about O'Neill's arrest.
It was, however, ultimately revealed that the former member of SEAL Team Six had been released after posting $3,500 bond.
O'Neill was understood to have been in Frisco for the purpose of recording a podcast episode at a cigar bar in the area.
When asked to comment on the situation, O'Neill – as well as the police in Frisco – declined to provide further details.
“The Operator”
Many will recall O'Neill as the man who took credit for the killing of bin Laden in a 2011 raid in Pakistan.
O'Neill chronicled those claims in a 2017 book he penned, titled, The Operator.
According to the book, the shots that took bin Laden out once and for all were fired from O'Neill's weapon, though his telling of events has not gone without its challengers and detractors.
The federal government has, for its part, never confirmed the truth of O'Neill's claims, nor has it denied their veracity.
Colleagues' contradictions, ongoing troubles
The very fact of O'Neill's public claims sparked controversy within the elite military ranks in which he served -- a group known for maintaining a strict shroud of silence regarding covert operations.
In addition, a fellow former SEAL, Mark Bissonnette, has specifically contradicted O'Neill's account, saying in his own book that the fatal shots in Pakistan were fired by another solider entirely.
O'Neill's recent past has been marked by a number of other difficulties, including having been banned from flying on Delta Airlines back in 2020 due to a dispute over masks as well as a 2016 drunk driving arrest in Montana.
