Southwest
Navy SEAL who killed Bin Laden slaps hotel with lawsuit over incident that derailed career: 'Didn't happen'
FIRST ON FOX: Former Navy SEAL Rob O’Neill, the man credited with killing Usama Bin Laden, is speaking out after recently filing a lawsuit against the hotel where he allegedly assaulted a security guard and used a racial slur, which he vehemently denies and says has crippled his business career.
“I’ve lost a ton of business. There was a point in my career where I was giving 300 speeches in one year, between 250 and 300 speeches and that many cities in a year, and now it’s just dried up, because it’s a bad look that didn’t happen,” O’Neill told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview about the notorious incident at the Omni Hotel in Frisco, Texas, in August last year when he was accused of assaulting a loss-prevention officer while intoxicated and calling that guard, who is White, the “N word.”
O’Neill, a former SEAL Team Six member who has received two Silver Stars and four Bronze Stars, says he never assaulted anyone and never used the slur, which prompted him to file a lawsuit against the Omni Hotel. In the lawsuit, O’Neill argues that the security guard, Johnny Lee Loomis, should never have been hired, due to his allegedly checkered past, and alleges that he made false statements about that night.
“Hotel Defendants knowingly, recklessly, and negligently hired and retained Loomis as a security guard, despite Loomis’ publicly available history as a pedophile and child sex purveyor,” the lawsuit states. “Hotel Defendants also knowingly, recklessly, and negligently hired and retained Loomis as a security guard despite his known history of violence and of making false accusations of violence and misconduct against Hotel guests.”
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O’Neill acknowledges that he had had a drink after a long day after a speaking engagement, falling asleep at the hotel bar, and that he had encountered Loomis while trying to get back into his room, but denies striking Loomis or calling him a racial slur.
“It had been a long day flying from New York to Dallas, and then we had a dinner meeting and whatnot and went to the cigar bar and then came back, and generally just being in a hospitality environment such as a hotel, you know, you sit at the bar having a try to have a nightcap and then fell asleep at the bar, which, unfortunately, has happened before and then getting semi-escorted up to my hotel room, which is fine. I guess that can happen,” O’Neill recounted.
“It’s odd that it’s only one guy that did it. It’s odd the way that he knew he was going to a place with no audio and video, and also it’s just odd that he’s trying to use my wallet, my key, when as a loss-prevention officer, he has a key to a room. And any time I’ve seen it happen or been around security guys from a hotel, they have their own key. They don’t need the guy’s keys. So I was actually surprised at first when the police showed up.”
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O’Neill continued. “It wasn’t until later that I found out that not only had I been accused of assault, I’d been accused of using a racial slur. And that, to me, was odd, too, along with the one guy escorting me up to him being a middle-aged white guy, like a dude in his 60s and all of a sudden he’s claiming assault and claiming a racial slur, which with two guys alone in a hallway is just to me, silly.”
O’Neill said the slur is a “horrible word” that he would “never use” and says he supports law enforcement and was treated well by local police, but alleges in the lawsuit that Loomis has a track record of false statements and altercations with guests.
The lawsuit states that Loomis has “been involved in several other physical altercations with guests at the Hotel” and that in one case, Loomis “published false statements and instigated that guest’s arrest, claiming the guest had started the altercation.”
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“On at least one occasion before August 22, 2023, law enforcement personnel specifically warned Hotel Defendants about Loomis and his background,” the lawsuit states. “Yet, Hotel Defendants retained Loomis in his supervisory role, giving him continued, unsupervised access to Hotel premises and guests of all ages. Hotel Defendants also took no remedial or disciplinary action against Loomis.”
“This lawsuit seeks substantial compensatory and punitive damages against Hotel Defendants for negligent hiring, screening, retention, and supervision arising from Hotel Defendants’ employment of Loomis, for Loomis’ false statements, and for events that occurred at the Hotel on or about August 22, 2023,” it said.
The lawsuit also states that Loomis did not hold the proper security guard registration credentials in accordance with Texas law and that Louisiana law enforcement, where Loomis had been previously employed, had called to warn the hotel about Loomis and the hotel continued employing him.
O’Neill told Fox News Digital that a main reason he filed the lawsuit was to restore his name that he says has been forever sullied due to false allegations.
“There’s a ton of damage done, and the internet is forever,” O’Neill said. “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. And most importantly, I’ve been thinking about this for a year, and I assure you, that’s a long time to keep my mouth shut, especially with my platforms. But, I really don’t want anyone else to have to deal with this.”
“When my grandkids Google my name or Neptune’s Spear or 9/11, this article that’s not even true will come up, and that affects everything from my family life, my legacy, my business, my military career,” O’Neill added.
“Even friends and family, when they’ve gone places, they’ve heard whispers and stuff like that, it’s just, it’s a shame. And. I mean, the lawsuit speaks for itself, but again, just the fact that there are people out there that will print anything for a headline.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the Omni Hotel, which provided the following statement: “On August 23, 2023, the Frisco Police Department was dispatched to the Omni Frisco Hotel at The Star due to a disturbance call regarding guest, Robert O’Neill. Upon arrival on the scene, the responding police officers conducted their own investigation and made the determination to take Mr. O’Neill into custody.”
“The Frisco Police Department arrested Mr. O’Neill for public intoxication and assault. The security staff at the Omni Frisco Hotel at The Star followed all appropriate protocols to ensure the safety of its guests and associates.
“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. Omni has placed Mr. Loomis on suspension while this incident is under investigation. There will be no further comment at this time.”
Loomis did not respond to Fox News Digital’s media inquiry.
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Southwest
Texas lawmaker proposes bill to abolish death penalty in Lone Star State: 'I think sentiment is changing'
A Texas state lawmaker has introduced legislation to eliminate the death penalty in the state amid a high-profile death row case currently unfolding.
Democrat state Rep. John Bucy III filed the bill for the upcoming legislative session.
“I think I’ve been opposed to the death penalty my whole life as I’ve thought about its use, and should it exist in our society,” Bucy said, according to Fox 7.
“Financially, if you just want to look at it economically, we spend more money to execute than to keep someone in prison, so it’s really a lose-lose situation with a high risk stake if we get it wrong,” he continued.
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This comes after the Texas Supreme Court cleared the way last week for the state to schedule a new execution date for inmate Robert Roberson, whose initial execution was delayed last month.
Roberson is currently on death row over his conviction in which prosecutors say he killed his two-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, by shaking her to death, known as shaken baby syndrome. But his lawyers say Nikki actually died from other health issues such as pneumonia and that new evidence proves his innocence. His lawyers also said doctors had failed to rule out these other medical explanations for the child’s symptoms.
Roberson was scheduled to be put to death on Oct. 17 before the state Supreme Court issued a stay to delay his execution shortly before it was set to take place.
If he is put to death, he would be the first person in the U.S. to be executed in a case based on shaken baby syndrome.
More than 80 Texas state lawmakers, as well as the detective who helped the prosecution, medical experts, parental rights groups, human rights groups, bestselling novelist John Grisham and other advocates have called for the state to grant Roberson clemency over the belief that he is innocent. A group of state lawmakers have also visited Roberson in prison to encourage him.
“I feel like I’ve gotten more engaged with this Robert Roberson case and wanted to make sure that we’re continuing this conversation about the lack of humanity tied to the death penalty,” Bucy said.
Texas has executed nearly 600 people since 1982, according to Texas Coalition to Abolish The Death Penalty executive director Kristin Houle Cuellar.
“Which is far more than any other state in the nation,” Houle Cuellar told Fox 7. “We have quite a reputation when it comes to the use of the death penalty in Texas.”
Houle Cuellar said that there have been fewer death sentences in the state in the last decade, which she partially attributes to the introduction in 2005 of life without parole.
“Prosecutors have used that discretion in opting not to seek the death penalty,” Houle Cuellar said. “Even in about 30 percent of the cases that they’ve taken to trial where they’ve sought the death penalty, jurors have rejected it.”
Houle Cuellar said that Harris, Dallas, Tarrant and Bexar counties lead the state in death sentences and more than half of all Texas counties have never issued a death sentence.
Since 2007, multiple Texas lawmakers have unsuccessfully sought to abolish the death penalty. But Bucy says there is now enough momentum regarding the issue to reintroduce legislation to eliminate the practice.
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“While it’s an uphill battle to end the death penalty in Texas, we’ve seen the number of executions go down,” he said. “I think sentiment is changing, and I also think as we see these specific cases come to life, and we start learning the specific stories, people are going to get more and more concerned about the possibility of getting it wrong.”
State Sen. Sarah Eckhardt and state Rep. Joe Moody, both Democrats, have filed similar bills to abolish the death penalty, which will need to be voted on by fellow lawmakers when the legislative session begins early next year.
In another Texas death row case, a judge found last month that Melissa Lucio was innocent in the 2007 death of her two-year-old daughter, Mariah. Senior State District Judge Arturo Nelson recommended that Lucio’s conviction and death sentence be overturned. The judge also found that prosecutors suppressed evidence and testimony, including statements from Lucio’s other children, that could support the claim that she was not abusive and that Mariah’s death was accidental from falling down the stairs.
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Los Angeles, Ca
Fort Irwin soldier allegedly murdered comrade
A soldier from Fontana has been charged with murder in the death of another soldier at Fort Irwin in San Bernardino County.
Spc. George Cornejo, 26, is accused of killing Spc. Andrew P. Smith on Oct. 28, military officials said in a press release.
Smith, 27, was found injured in his residence that day and later succumbed to his wounds, officials said when announcing his death. The Rye, New York, native had been stationed at Fort Irwin for more than two years.
The manner and possible motivation for the alleged murder were not released.
Cornejo has been in pre-trial custody since Oct. 29, and he’s expected to be transferred to the Naval Consolidated Brig in Miramar.
A preliminary hearing will be held to determine if Cornejo will be tried by court-martial.
Southwest
Texas man convicted after saying he mutilated victims, ate human heart as part of 'ritualistic sacrifices'
A Texas man was convicted of killing three people, dismembering them and burning their bodies after admitting to investigators that he was called to “commit sacrifices.”
Jason Thornburg was found guilty of capital murder on Wednesday and now, the same Tarrant County jury that convicted him must determine whether he receives a death sentence or if he will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole, according to Fox 4.
In September 2021, Thornburg killed three people, dismembered their bodies and stored them under his bed at a motel in Euless, Texas, before lighting the bodies on fire inside a dumpster in Fort Worth.
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Thornburg confessed to investigators that he felt a compulsion to commit “ritualistic sacrifices” and that he ate a victim’s heart and other parts of the victims’ bodies.
His attorneys argued he was insane when he carried out the murders and suffered from a severe mental disease.
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When he was arrested on murder allegations, Thornburg confessed to police he killed his roommate in May 2021 during a suspicious home explosion and his girlfriend in Arizona back in 2017.
These two previous murders were brought up in court on Thursday when the punishment aspect of the trial began.
The victims’ families cannot speak publicly until the punishment phase is finished.
Read the full article from Here
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