The Navy SEAL who shot and killed Osama Bin Laden has been named as an Irish-American.

Robert O'Neill, an Irish-American from Butte, Montana, was revealed as the man who fired the shot that killed Osama Bin Laden back in 2011 in a raid by the Navy SEAL Team Six on his compound. 

O'Neill's identity has been revealed ahead of an interview that he is due to give to Fox News, where he will speak about his time as a SEAL, and some of their missions. This has been causing a lot of controversy in the US, as part of the deal when you sign up to be a SEAL is to never seek publicity for your actions or speak publicly about the missions, the majority of which have been highly covert operations. 

O'Neill wanted to speak out due to the fact that he has decided to leave the SEALs after 16 years (four years earlier than the usual 20 year term of service) and that may see him losing a lot of his military benefits, despite his numerous achievements and awards.

Speaking to The Daily Mail, Rob's father Tim O'Neill said that he served as part of several SEAL missions which later became huge Hollywood movies base don real-life events, including Captain Phillips, Zero Dark Thirty and Lone Survivor, and that he has been decorated 52 times for his bravery and actions in combat.

Now working as a motivational speaker having left the Navy, Rob has found that his decision to go public is being greeted with hostility by his former teammates. Force Master Chief Michael Magaraci and commander Rear Adm. Brian Losey released a statement saying that "violators of our Ethos [speaking about the missions publicly] are neither Teammates in good standing, nor Teammates who represent Naval Special Warfare. We do not abide willful or selfish disregard for our core values in return for public notoriety and financial gain, which only diminishes otherwise honorable service, courage and sacrifice...We will actively seek judicial consequence for members who willfully violate the law".

O'Neill is not the only SEAL involved in that mission to go public (Matthew Bisonnette also wrote a book about his time in service), but given the high-profile and revealing nature of the interview he intends to give to Fox, he could face heavy fines from the Pentagon.

Via The Daily Mail. Main pic via Rob O'Neill on Twitter