Ex-Navy SEAL who claimed he killed bin Laden drunkenly punched hotel security guard
Houston TX Aug 29 2023 The former U.S. Navy SEAL who has publicly claimed he was the man who shot and killed Osama bin Laden in 2011 was arrested last week after he allegedly got “belligerent” drunk inside of a Texas hotel and assaulted a security guard while also calling him a racial slur. Robert O’Neill was taken into custody on Wednesday and charged with one count of assault causing bodily injury and one count of public intoxication, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
According to an arrest report, officers with the Frisco Police Department at about midnight on Wednesday, Aug. 23 responded to a call regarding a disturbance at the Omni Hotel located at 11 Cowboys Way in Collins County. Upon arriving at the scene, police spoke with the front desk attendant who placed the call and the security guard who was allegedly attacked. They were advised that O’Neill had stuck the guard in the chest and was still in the hallway outside of his room where the assault allegedly took place.
Officers then proceeded to the fifth floor of the hotel where they encountered O’Neill.
O’Neill had a pronounced sway and looked incredibly unstable on his feet. O’Neill had a strong odor of alcoholic beverage emitting from his body as well as red glassy eyes,” the arrest report states. “Corporal Anderson observed that [O’Neill] was holding a silver in color credit card in his hand. [O’Neill] pressed the card against the lock trying to open the room. Corporal Anderson attempted to talk to [O’Neill] about what happened tonight. [O’Neill] refused to answer questions and kept repeating ‘we good?’”
Officers then placed O’Neill under arrest.
The security guard explained that the incident began when a male guest at the hotel — later identified as O’Neill — was discovered “passed out” in the hotel bar. The guard was tasked with helping O’Neill back to his room on the fifth floor.
In an interview with police, the guard stated that he walked a “belligerent” O’Neill up to his room. When he saw O’Neill was using a credit card instead of a key card to get into his room, the guard said he offered to help but was ignored. He then said he offered to open the door for O’Neill, who allegedly “turned to him, rose his fists in the air, and struck him in the chest with his right palm.”
“The guard stated that Robert called him a ‘fucking n—-r’ when he struck him,” the arrest report states. “[The guard] stated he stepped back and exclaimed, ‘I can’t believe you just hit me.’ Robert then repeated [the guard’s] words in a mocking manner.”
O’Neill penned a memoir in 2017 titled “The Operator: Firing the Shots that Killed Osama bin Laden and My Years as a SEAL Team Warrior,” which detailed his 16.5-year stint in the armed forces as well as his version of the SEAL Team Six raid that killed bin Laden.
O’Neill in 2016 was charged with DUI after he was found sleeping behind the wheel of a running vehicle, but those charges were later dropped, the Houston Chronicle reported.
