NEW YORK — Former Navy SEAL Matt Bissonnette says SEALs raiding Osama bin Laden’s Pakistan hideout last year shot him dead instead of capturing him because his arms were hidden and may have been holding weapons.
Appearing Sunday on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” Bissonnette says one SEAL fired after seeing a man’s head poking into a hallway.
Bissonette was on the helicopter that crashed during the raid and was the second man in the room when Bin Laden was shot.
Bissonnette says he and another SEAL shot bin Laden again after finding him on his bedroom floor with a bullet in his skull, because bin Laden’s hands were hidden.
“You couldn’t see his arms, you couldn’t see his hands. He could have had something, or something underneath his chest,” he said.
That’s more detail than was included in “No Easy Day,” the newly released book Bissonnette wrote under the pseudonym Mark Owen.
During a 60 Minutes interview Bisonette told Scott Pelley that rehearsals for the mission were observed by a group of high ranking VIPs.
Scott Pelley: How did that rehearsal go?
Mark Owen: It was fine. This is nothing new to us. The part that was new was all the VIPs sitting there watching. One of the things that I like after the fact was– I remember Admiral Mullen coming by and talking to each one of us and then Admiral Olsen as well. And I thought that was cool that, you know, they walked by, shook each of our hands, and said, “Hey, are you guys ready? Can you guys pull this off?” And I’m pretty sure to a man we all said, “Yes, absolutely.”
Pentagon officials say bin Laden was only shot after fleeing into his bedroom, and have threatened legal action against Bissonnette for possible releases of classified information.
Scott Pelley: How did that rehearsal go?
Pentagon officials say bin Laden was only shot after fleeing into his bedroom, and have threatened legal action against Bissonnette for possible releases of classified information.
Mark Owen: It was fine. This is nothing new to us. The part that was new was all the VIPs sitting there watching. One of the things that I like after the fact was– I remember Admiral Mullen coming by and talking to each one of us and then Admiral Olsen as well. And I thought that was cool that, you know, they walked by, shook each of our hands, and said, “Hey, are you guys ready? Can you guys pull this off?” And I’m pretty sure to a man we all said, “Yes, absolutely.”
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