Delta Air Lines announced Thursday the company will no longer allow a retired U.S. Navy SEAL to fly with the airline. Robert O’Neill is known for being the trigger man who killed al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind behind the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Delta announced the American hero is banned because he supposedly did not wear a mask on a recent flight, according to Fox Business.
In a tweet, the 44-year-old veteran said he was banned from Delta “for posting a picture.” At the beginning of the week, O’Neil posted a since-deleted selfie showing his bare face on a Delta flight along with the words, “I’m not a pussy.”
Thursday afternoon he told his followers, “I just got banned from @Delta for posting a picture. Wow.”
I just got banned from @Delta for posting a picture. Wow.
— Robert J. O’Neill (@mchooyah) August 20, 2020
“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,” a Delta spokesman told Fox Business. “Failure to comply with our mask-wearing mandate can result in losing the ability to fly Delta in the future.”
O’Neill later explained the photo was a joke and his mask was sitting in his lap when he snapped the image. He shot back at Delta in response to the banning, saying, “Thank God it wasn’t @Delta flying us in when we killed Bin Laden.”
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 2011 the former Navy SEAL was instrumental in the raid on Bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan and is credited with personally ending the terrorist leader’s life by shooting him in his face. A year later O’Neill retired from the Navy.
In response to the airplane selfie, New York Times deputy editor Dan Saltzstein wrote the retired Navy SEAL was not “willing to sacrifice” for his “fellow humans” when he is said to have briefly removed his mask. The Times editor later deleted the tweet and offered an apology, while still finger-waging against masklessness.
I deleted a previous version of this tweet because I broke my own rule about name-calling. So let me try again: I honor O’Neill for his sacrifices to his country and his heroism. It’s sad that he can’t extend the same for the safety of his fellow passengers. pic.twitter.com/DxlUluIdX6
— Dan Saltzstein (@dansaltzstein) August 19, 2020
Comedian Steve Hofstetter also piled on to mock the war hero via Twitter in a series of tweets, one reading:
“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. Do you have no one in your life who can say ‘Hey, Robert, maybe don’t tweet this one?'”
O’Neil fired back “I love Steve’s comedy. He doesn’t have a hair on his skinny ass to say this in person… but he is funny.”
However, after the ginger comic continued to prod the vet the fun and games appeared to come to a halt when the battle-hardened former serviceman responded, “Alright @SteveHofstetter, you cunt. Tell me where.”
The dust-up over masks and their effectiveness continued. O’Neil retweeted an article from the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, or CIDRAP, written by two infectious disease and respiratory system experts named Dr. Brosseau and Dr. Sietsema, titled “Masks-for-all for COVID-19 not based on sound data.”
Delta Air Lines along with most airlines flying in the U.S. have enforced stringent mask guidelines in the last few months to supposedly safeguard passengers against the pandemic. According to the airline’s website, people who fly with Delta are required to wear a mask or cloth face covering “throughout their travel.”
“Any false claims of a disability or health condition to obtain an exemption from wearing a mask or face covering may result in the suspension of travel privileges on any Delta flight for the duration of the mask/face covering requirement,” Delta’s website threatens.
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