Navy SEAL Who Killed Osama Bin Laden Speaks Out About TikTok Praise

The former U.S. Navy SEAL who claims to have shot and killed Osama bin Laden has chimed in after an old letter written by the former al-Qaeda leader has drawn praise on social media.

Robert O'Neill, at the order of President Barack Obama, participated in Operation Neptune Spear on May 2, 2011, that resulted in bin Laden's death in northern Pakistan. He has spoken out against countless TikTok users who dug up and lauded a 2-decade-old letter written by bin Laden and addressed to the U.S.

Bin Laden's two-page polemic published by The Guardian in November 2002 claims that hating America or its freedom was not the root of why he orchestrated attacks on 9/11. On Wednesday, the British publication removed the "Letter to America" from its website without any explanation beyond the timeline of its original publishing and subsequent removal.

Bin Laden took responsibility for killing roughly 3,000 people on September 11, 2001, with more dying each year due to related illnesses stemming from the day's events. He said following 9/11 that attacking the World Trade Center towers "never occurred to us...but it became unbearable, and we witnessed the oppression and tyranny of the American/Israeli coalition against our people in Palestine and Lebanon."

"The new Tik Tok fad is the positive reaction from gen Z after reading 'Letter to America' by Osama bin Laden," O'Neill wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday. "Deceit is a mask the Devil puts over the eyes of useful idiots."

O'Neill has claimed in past interviews that he and a fellow SEAL cornered bin Laden during the 2011 mission. When his partner purportedly shot and missed, O'Neill said he shot the terrorist leader in the head.

His account has been disputed by other former SEALs. In a book about the raid titled No Easy Day, SEAL Matt Bissonnette is quoted as saying that an unknown point person killed bin Laden.

The Intercept interviewed one former SEAL Team 6 member, who claimed that when O'Neill arrived at the Pakistani compound, bin Laden was already "bleeding out on the floor, possibly already dead, after being shot in the chest and leg by the lead assaulter on the raid."

Another SEAL said bin Laden was already incapacitated when O'Neill walked over and shot him twice in the head.

Other special forces members have spoken out, not against O'Neill's telling of events but his admission to participating in the act. They have said that O'Neill's public messaging is a violation of "a code of silence that forbids them from publicly taking credit for their actions."

Alex Plitsas, a former U.S. Army soldier and current tech executive, echoed O'Neill's concerns regarding praising bin Laden.

"We have some soul searching to do as a country," Plitsas wrote on X. "Antisemitism is skyrocketing, the Bin Laden 'Letter to America' is trending, Russian propaganda is being consumed and believed without question."

Others have encouraged younger Americans sympathizing with bin Laden's words to read more into his history.

In his letter, bin Laden tied U.S. oppression against Palestinians to the eventual 9/11 attacks. He argued that the relationship between the U.S. and Israel was negatively impacting the Middle East, mirroring some of today's criticism regarding the ongoing war in Gaza and myriad calls for a ceasefire.

"The creation and continuation of Israel is one of the greatest crimes, and you are the leaders of its criminals," bin Laden wrote. "Each and every person whose hands have become polluted in the contribution towards this crime must pay its price, and pay for it heavily."

TikTok videos that have circulated essentially include posters imploring others to read bin Laden's letter, with many saying it changed their worldviews regarding the U.S. and 9/11 and bin Laden's intent.

"It's actually so mind-blowing to me that terrorism has been sold as this idea to the American people...that this group of people, this random group of people, just suddenly wakes up one day and just hates you...it doesn't make sense," one TikTok user said.

Others spoke of experiencing an existential crisis and not knowing how to deal with the supposed revelation.

"Be forewarned that this has left me very disillusioned, and I feel the same exact way I felt when I was deconstructing Christianity...like I entered another timeline," one user said.

One user said the letter was ahead of its time, referring to a larger theme of "settler colonialism" and how "any kind of resistance can be branded as terrorist."

"It's become apparent to me that the actions of 9/11 and those acts committed against the U.S.A. and its people were all just the buildup of our government failing other nations," another said.