Ex-Navy SEAL who killed Bin Laden says human tape measure was used to confirm identity
Rob O’ Neill, the ex-Navy SEAL who is responsible for killing Osama Bin Laden, detailed the drastic measures taken during the 2011 raid in Pakistan with Adm. William McRaven.
Adm. McRaven told FOX Business’ Neil Cavuto on Tuesday that after Bin Laden was killed he had to personally go and identify the body, in order to confirm it was the right person, because all he knew was that he was very tall. O’Neill said they used a sniper to physically confirm his identity.
“The tallest guy we had there was one of our snipers and I think he was 6’2’’ and so admiral McRaven asked him to lay down next to Bin Laden’s body—which he did and that was part of it,” he told Cavuto adding that relatives inside, DNA, and “as many things” as possible were also used to check to make sure it was him.
“One of the plaques that [President] Obama gave to Admiral McRaven had a tape measure on it,” he said.
Still for O’Neill, when he stormed into the house in Abbottabad, Pakistan, he knew, without hesitation that they had found Bin Laden.
“I was sure going in—I was sure when I saw him. When I saw him standing up on two feet I recognized his nose… his beard was shorter and white. But no doubt in my mind when I saw him about four seconds later that we just got Osama Bin Laden,” he explained.
He also explained how people inside the house helped to confirm his identity.
“There was a group of women that found him… and they turned out to be—one woman in particular -- 100 percent right about 100 percent of the people inside,” he said. “She was so frustrated saying 'if you want a shot at Osama Bin Laden he’s on the third floor of this house right now and I don’t understand why we are not leaving,'” he said.
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O’Neill added that his account also agreed with Bin Laden’s wives’.
“She was there when I went up there,” he said. “We trained so hard, had the best assets we could, the best pilots in the world, the best air crew, the best intel and I was smart enough to carry a sledge hammer and a gun and I followed [people] up the stairs and I turned the right corner.”