Former Navy SEAL Robert J. O’Neill, known for his claim that he killed Osama bin Laden, blasted the Department of Homeland Security this week after the agency celebrated its handling of the deportation of British internet personality Milo Yiannopoulos.
O’Neill fired back directly at DHS in a reply to the agency’s own promotional post touting the case, according to his account on X.
“You are a result of 9/11. The 25 year anniversary is here. You’re bragging about arresting a flaming influencer after letting in millions of illegals. Your whole department is a joke,” O’Neill wrote.
His comments came in response to a DHS post celebrating its handling of Yiannopoulos, the far-right commentator. The agency said Yiannopoulos had entered the country legally on May 14, 2019, but remained in the U.S. past his authorized stay. “He chose to overstay his welcome in violation of our nation’s laws,” DHS wrote on X.
According to DHS, federal agents took Yiannopoulos into custody on Aug. 27 at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport in Kenner, Louisiana. The agency said an immigration judge had signed a final removal order on July 22 after Yiannopoulos failed to appear at his scheduled hearing. Immigration and Customs Enforcement then flew him back to the United Kingdom on Friday, according to Reuters.
Yiannopoulos, 41, rose to prominence as an editor at Breitbart and later worked alongside rapper Ye, according to Reuters. Notably, he had previously pushed for even harsher immigration enforcement than what the Trump administration has actually carried out, including advocating for ICE checkpoints stationed at supermarket entrances.
DHS used the high-profile case as an opportunity to promote its voluntary departure program, which offers individuals in the country illegally $3,000 and a plane ticket back home, according to the agency’s statement. “Being in detention is a choice,” DHS wrote on X.
O’Neill has long maintained that he fired the fatal shots during the 2011 raid that killed bin Laden, though his account has been disputed by former special operations officials. He sued the hosts of the Antihero podcast for $25 million in November after they challenged his version of events, according to Military.com.
The dustup comes as immigration arrests at airports nationwide continue to climb, with the Trump administration increasingly publicizing high-profile deportation cases in an effort to encourage those in the country illegally to self-deport. O’Neill’s sharp criticism suggests that even among supporters of stricter immigration enforcement, there’s frustration that the administration’s efforts aren’t matching the scale of the problem at the southern border.
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