A former Navy SEAL who has said he fired the shots that killed Osama bin Laden has sued a security guard and a Frisco hotel where his arrest one year ago drew national headlines.
In a federal lawsuit filed in August, Robert O’Neill accused a security guard of defamation and the hotel, the Omni Frisco at The Star, of negligence for employing the guard, who he said lacked adequate qualifications.
O’Neill, 48, was accused of assaulting a security officer and calling him a racial slur during an alcohol-fueled night in August 2023. He was arrested, booked into jail and released on $3,500 bail later the same day.
O’Neill said the guard, Johnny Loomis, fabricated the story, which the lawsuit called “false, baseless, and highly inflammatory.” Reached by phone Friday, Loomis hung up on a reporter from The Dallas Morning News.
As a result of his arrest, O’Neill has lost thousands of dollars in revenue, including dwindling book sales, public appearances and speaking engagements, according to the lawsuit, with damages far exceeding $75,000.
O’Neill faces two misdemeanor charges, one for assault and one for public intoxication. The district attorney’s office has not spoken publicly about whether it plans to pursue charges against O’Neill, and a spokesperson for the office did not respond to an email Friday seeking additional information.
Frisco’s Omni, at the Cowboys headquarters, The Star in Frisco, is jointly owned by Jerry Jones and family and billionaire Bob Rowling, who owns the Omni chain. The hotel opened in 2017. An attorney for Jones did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Friday.
In a statement Friday afternoon, the Omni said Frisco police made the decision to arrest O’Neill, and Loomis was placed on suspension while the incident is under investigation.
“The security staff at the Omni Frisco Hotel at The Star followed all appropriate protocols to ensure the safety of its guests and associates,” the statement read. “We will let due process play out in the court of law. Omni Hotels & Resorts followed all standard and legal protocols, including background checks upon hiring Mr. Loomis, which includes all national registries. No convictions and arrests were found.”
A Frisco police spokesperson previously said the department filed its case with the Collin County district attorney’s office in October of last year. The Collin County district clerk’s office confirmed the case is still pending.
O’Neill, who wrote a memoir about his military service and hosts a podcast, has a large following on social media and is also a regular contributor to the conservative television network Newsmax. Although O’Neill did not respond to a phone call or email from The News on Friday, he told Fox News that he filed the suit in an attempt to restore his name and reputation.
“There’s a ton of damage done, and the internet is forever,” O’Neill told the news outlet. “And it’s just hard to just sit here and say, well, that’s not really me when it’s already out there. People that know me know this is not me. Obviously, I want to restore my reputation. I want to restore the way my family is treated and the way that they think about my reputation and their relationships with me.”
The former SEAL, who lived in Tennessee at the time, was in Frisco last year to record a podcast at a cigar lounge. Police responded to the Omni Frisco at The Star around midnight, and the hotel’s night manager told police that O’Neill assaulted Loomis, the security officer, who was escorting him to his room.
The ordeal began when hotel staff found O’Neill asleep at the bar and offered him a wheelchair, which he refused. The lawsuit says O’Neill ordered a single drink at the hotel bar “and at some point, exhausted from a long day of traveling and work, drifted to sleep alone at the bar.”
According to a police report, the officer helped O’Neill to the elevator and to the fifth floor. The officer told police O’Neill was trying to unlock his room door with a credit card, so he offered to help.
O’Neill then turned and struck the officer in the chest with his right palm and called him a “f---ing n-word,” according to the report. The officer stepped back and said, “I can’t believe you just hit me.” O’Neill reportedly repeated the officer’s words in a mocking tone. The security guard then called police over his radio.
In the lawsuit, O’Neill denied using a racial slur.
“Having served and fought side-by-side with men and women of every race, creed, and background, O’Neill abhors racial slurs,” the lawsuit says. “He does not use them, and he never will.”
When police arrived, O’Neill was unstable on his feet and smelled strongly of alcohol, and his eyes were red and glassy, the police report said. He refused to answer how much he had to drink. Loomis was later cleared by medics.
O’Neill, originally from Montana, first said in 2014 that he fired the shots that killed bin Laden in a 2011 raid on the terrorist’s compound in Pakistan. The U.S. government has neither confirmed nor denied the account.
O’Neill was banned from Delta Air Lines in 2020 after he removed his face mask on a flight during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2016, prosecutors in Montana dropped a DUI charge against the former SEAL Team 6 member, who has received two Silver Stars, four Bronze Stars and a Joint Service Commendation Medal. Both sides stipulated that the charge stemmed from prescription medication he used to treat a condition connected to his military service, the Montana Standard reported.
