The Navy SEAL who shot and killed Osama Bin Laden has said the 9/11 plotters should have gone to trial and been executed years before getting the plea deal that spares their lives.
Rob O’Neill added he would have carried out the death penalty himself and said the agreement is a slap in the face for the families of the 2,657 American victims who have waited 23 years for justice.
The 48-year-old served his country in 400 combat missions over 16 years and was involved in arguably the most famous military raid in U.S. history that led to the death of the Al-Qaeda founder.
Now he is slamming the deal where Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) – the architect of the 2001 plot that killed almost 3,000 people – and two accomplices Walid Bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi will accept life sentences to avoid a lengthy criminal trial and the death penalty.
The trio have been detained in Guantanamo Bay for decades and the grieving relatives of those killed have been painfully waiting for answers.
Family members of the victims reacted with fury as news of the plea deal emerged on Wednesday night, on a day when more evidence of Saudi Arabia’s complicity in 9/11 was revealed in a New York courtroom.
Montana native O’Neill and members of SEAL Team Six stormed Bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on May 2, 2011, and cornered him.
He then says he shot the most wanted man in the world in the head, ending a global manhunt that had consumed the West for years.
He came forward in 2014 and named himself as the man who fired the kill shots.
O’Neill says the deal that will spare the terrorist planners their lives is a slap in the face for the families who want to know more about who was behind the attacks.
He told DailyMail.com that the trio should have been executed years ago, and he would have done it personally to save taxpayers’ money.
However he admitted that he wasn’t surprised about the terms of the plea deal and criticized the Biden administration.
The White House has insisted the president was not involved in talks and was not aware of the arrangement reached between military prosecutors and the suspected terrorists’ lawyers.
‘This proves that we are really bad at remembering our history. “Never Forget” is forgotten and attorneys are proving that they will sell their souls to al Qaeda for notoriety and money.
‘The White House is also quick to say that the president had nothing to do with this, just like he really has nothing to do with anything.
‘These three terrorists are culpable for the worst attack in U.S. history and will now be living the remainder of their worthless lives on a tropical island.’
It is yet unclear where the terrorists will serve their sentences. Joe Biden has been wanting to close Guantanamo Bay, where they are detained, since he came into office.
If the detention facility on the military base, known as Camp Delta, is shut down, the detainees could be moved to ADX Florence, the only supermax prison in the U.S. that already houses 9/11 terrorists.
O’Neill criticized the lawyers involved in the deal and said the only just resolution for the families now is for the three plotters to spend the rest of their lives in solitary confinement.
‘The attorneys representing them are detestable and the prosecutors are weak. Families of the fallen have waited 23 years for the proper verdict and are, again, let down by our flawed system.
‘The only reasonable way forward would be solitary confinement in cold, quiet, dark cells or solitary confinement while blasting heavy metal.
‘But that will never happen. I won’t be surprised if part of the plea-deal is unlimited sunscreen.
‘President Biden recently released Mohammed al-Qahtani, the 20th 9/11 hijacker, and Zuhail al-Sharabi, another hijacker, for an expanded version of the 9/11 attacks from Guantanamo Bay, so it’s only fitting that someone in the administration is trying to cut a plea deal with the mastermind of the attacks.
‘In 2009, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the other scumbags entered their “Islamic” response to the charges against them saying, “killing you and fighting you, destroying you and terrorizing you” are “considered to be great legitimate duty in our religion.”
‘They consider the mission “blessed” and they will become martyrs if they are killed. Set up the meeting and let God decide.
‘They should have been executed years ago. I would have done it personally while saving taxpayers’ dollars.
‘If you need to locate President Biden on September 11 this year, I’ll save you some time: He won’t be at Ground Zero.’
O’Neill completed some 400 missions during his illustrious career.
He was part of the mission that rescued Captain Richard Phillips from Somali pirates and ‘Lone Survivor’ SEAL Marcus Luttrell in Afghanistan.
In 2011, following a decade of work by multiple U.S. military intelligence agencies, a concrete location of Bin Laden’s whereabouts had emerged. The story of the CIA agent who doggedly tracked Bin Laden down inspired the movie Zero Dark Thirty.
9/11 Justice President Brett Eagleson voiced the anger many of the families are feeling in response to the plea deal.
He told DailyMail.com the grieving relatives were never consulted about the agreement and didn’t find out until Wednesday night.
‘We are deeply troubled by these plea deals. While we acknowledge the decision to avoid the death penalty, our primary concern remains access to these individuals for information,’ he said.
‘These plea deals should not perpetuate a system of closed-door agreements, where crucial information is hidden without giving the families of the victims the chance to learn the full truth.’
All three men have been in US custody at Guantanamo Bay since the early 2000s. Mohammed, an al Qaeda militant, has been accused of being the principal architect of the 9/11 attacks.
The families of victims were concerned that the plea deal could stall the investigation and prevent them from learning who was really behind the atrocity.
‘We need to know the extent of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the 9/11 attacks. This is not just about punishment, it is about uncovering the truth and ensuring justice for the nearly 3,000 Americans who lost their lives on that tragic day,’ Eagleson said.
‘Our stance is clear: if a deal is to be made, it must ensure that we obtain the vital evidence these individuals possess.
‘We urge the administration to ensure that these deals do not close the door on obtaining critical information that can shed light on Saudi Arabia’s role in the 9/11 attacks. Our quest for justice will not waver until the full truth is revealed, and justice is served for the victims and their families.’
Chief prosecutor Rear Admiral Aaron Rugh sent a letter to family members of 9/11 victims that explained the plea agreement.
‘In exchange for the removal of the death penalty as a possible punishment, these three accused have agreed to plead guilty to all of the charged offenses, including the murder of the 2,976 people listed in the charge sheet,’ Rugh wrote.
The letter said the men could submit their pleas in open court as early as next week.