Editing John P. O'Neill

{{Short description|American counterterrorism expert (1952–2001)}}
{{Other people|John O'Neill}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = John P. O'Neill
| image       = John O'Neill.jpg
| birth_name  = John Patrick O'Neill
| birth_date  = {{birth date|1952|2|6}}
| birth_place = [[Atlantic City, New Jersey]], U.S.
| death_date  = {{death date and age|2001|9|11|1952|2|6}}
| death_place = [[2 World Trade Center (1971–2001)|South Tower]], [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]], [[New York City]], U.S.
| death_cause = [[Collapse of the World Trade Center|Collapse]] of [[List of tenants in 2 World Trade Center|2 World Trade Center]] during the [[September 11 attacks]]
| education   = [[American University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br>[[George Washington University]] ([[Master of Science|MS]])
| occupation  = [[FBI]] [[special agent]]<br>[[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]] security head
}}
'''John Patrick O'Neill''' (February 6, 1952{{spaced ndash}}September 11, 2001) was an American [[counter-terrorism]] expert who worked as a [[special agent]] and eventually a [[Special agent#Other titles|special agent in charge]] in the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]]. In 1995, O'Neill began to intensely study the roots of the [[1993 World Trade Center bombing]] after he assisted in the capture of [[Ramzi Yousef]], who was the leader of that plot.

He subsequently learned of [[al-Qaeda]] and [[Osama bin Laden]], and investigated the 1996 [[Khobar Towers bombing]] in [[Saudi Arabia]] and the 2000 [[USS Cole bombing|USS ''Cole'' bombing]] in [[Yemen]]. Partly due to personal friction he had within the FBI and federal government, O'Neill left the Bureau in August 2001.<ref name="pbs">{{cite news |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/knew/john/timeline.html |work=Frontline |access-date=16 December 2020 |title=A Chronology of John O'Neill's Life and FBI Career |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160729032922/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/knew/john/timeline.html |archive-date=July 29, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He became the head of security at the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]], where he died at age 49 while helping others to evacuate the [[List of tenants in 2 World Trade Center|South Tower]] during the [[September 11 attacks]]. O'Neill's life has been featured in a number of documentaries and books.

==Early life==
O'Neill was born in [[Atlantic City, New Jersey]], on February 6, 1952. As a child, his favorite television show was ''[[The F.B.I. (TV series)|The F.B.I.]]'',<ref name="pbs"/> a [[Crime film|crime drama]] based around true cases the bureau had handled. In 1971, after graduating from [[Holy Spirit High School (New Jersey)|Holy Spirit High School]], he enrolled at [[American University]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] While there, O'Neill also started working at the FBI's Washington headquarters, first as a fingerprint clerk and later as a tour guide.<ref name=graff>{{Cite book |last=Graff |first=Garrett M. |title=The Threat Matrix: The FBI at War in the Age of Global Terror |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vVVLVEApMLkC |publisher=Little, Brown & Company |year=2011 |isbn=9780316068604}}</ref>{{rp|page=198}} He graduated with a degree in administration of justice from American University in 1974 and later obtained a [[master's degree]] in [[Forensic science|forensics]] from [[George Washington University]].

==Career==
===1976–1995===
The FBI hired O'Neill as an agent in 1976. Over the next 15 years, he worked on issues such as [[white-collar crime]], [[organized crime]], and foreign [[counterintelligence]]<ref name="pbs"/> while based at the Washington bureau. In 1991, he received an important promotion and was moved to the FBI's [[Chicago]] field office, where he was Assistant Special Agent in Charge.<ref name=graff/>{{rp|page=199}} While there, he established the Fugitive Task Force in an effort to promote inter-agency cooperation and enhance ties between the FBI and local law enforcement.<ref name="pbs"/> In 1994, O'Neill also became supervisor of VAPCON, a task force investigating [[abortion clinic]] bombings.<ref name=NewYorker/><ref>{{cite news |work=The New York Times |date=September 23, 2001 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/23/nyregion/john-o-neill-is-dead-at-49-trade-center-security-chief.html |title=John O'Neill Is Dead at 49; Trade Center Security Chief |first=Robin |last=Pogrebin}}</ref>

===1995–1999===
In 1995, he returned to the FBI's Washington, D.C., headquarters and became chief of the [[counter-terrorism]] section.<ref name=Kolker>{{cite news |first=Robert |last=Kolker |date=December 17, 2001 |work=New York |url=http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/sept11/features/5513/ |title=O'Neill Versus Osama |access-date=May 12, 2015}}</ref> On his first day, he received a call from his friend [[Richard A. Clarke|Richard Clarke]], who had just learned that [[Ramzi Yousef]] had been located in [[Pakistan]]. O'Neill worked continuously over the next few days to gather information and coordinate the successful capture and extradition of Yousef.<ref name="pbs"/> Intrigued by the case, O'Neill continued to study the [[1993 World Trade Center bombing]] that Yousef had masterminded and other information about Islamic militants. He was directly involved in the investigation into the June 1996 bombing of the [[Khobar Towers]] in [[Saudi Arabia]], which took place during a retreat O'Neill had organized in [[Quantico, Virginia|Quantico]] for FBI and CIA counter-terrorism agents.<ref name=NewYorker/> Frustrated by the level of cooperation from the Saudis, O'Neill purportedly vented to [[Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI Director]] [[Louis Freeh]], saying they were "blowing smoke up your ass,"<ref name="pbs"/> although Freeh later denied this, claiming they had an excellent relationship.<ref name=NewYorker/>

In 1996 and 1997, O'Neill continued to warn of growing threats of terrorism, saying that modern groups are not supported by governments and that there are terrorist cells operating within the United States. He stated that veterans of the insurgency by [[Afghanistan|Afghan]] rebels against the [[Soviet Union]]'s [[Soviet–Afghan War|invasion]] in the 1980s had become a major threat.<ref name=Kolker/> In January 1997, he moved to [[New York City]] to be Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's National Security Division, the FBI's "largest and most prestigious field office."<ref name=NewYorker/>

By 1998, O'Neill had become focused on [[Osama bin Laden]] and created an [[al-Qaeda]] desk in his division.<ref name=NewYorker/> In August 1998, [[1998 United States embassy bombings|two United States embassies were bombed]] in quick succession in simultaneous attacks in [[Nairobi]], [[Kenya]], and [[Dar es Salaam]], [[Tanzania]]. O'Neill hoped to be involved in the investigation because he had gained a tremendous knowledge of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist network. He persuaded FBI Director Freeh to let his office handle the case, and prosecutor [[Mary Jo White]] later said, "John O'Neill, in the investigation of the bombings of our embassies in East Africa, created the template for successful investigations of international terrorism around the world."<ref name=NewYorker/>

When his friend [[Chris Isham (journalist)|Chris Isham]], a producer for [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC News]], arranged for an interview between bin Laden and correspondent [[John Miller (journalist)|John Miller]], Isham and Miller used information put together by O'Neill to formulate the questions. After the interview aired, O'Neill pushed Isham hard to release an unedited version so he could carefully dissect it.

O'Neill's rise through the ranks at the bureau began to slow as his personal style chafed others, and he made a few slip-ups by losing a bureau [[Mobile phone|cell phone]] and [[PalmPilot]], improperly borrowing a car from a [[safe house]], and losing track of a briefcase with sensitive documents for a short period.<ref name=NewYorker/>

He was a Catholic, married with two children, but separated from his wife; his family continued to live in [[Atlantic City, New Jersey|Atlantic City]], and he supported them financially and paid the mortgage on their house. According to [[Lawrence Wright]] in ''[[The Looming Tower]]'', O'Neill was involved simultaneously in extramarital relationships with three named women during the 1990s, each of whom he had told either that he was not married or that he was divorced, and that he planned to marry her.

He was officially reprimanded and docked 15 days' pay in summer 1999 over the incident involving the safe house because he had allowed his girlfriend to enter it. His lifestyle, which involved frequently giving gifts to his girlfriends and lavish expenditures with his colleagues, resulted in substantial credit card debts which he found difficult to manage on his salary, and consequently, he borrowed substantial sums from wealthy friends.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wright|first=Lawrence|title=The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11|url=https://archive.org/details/loomingtower00lawr|url-access=registration|year=2006|publisher=Vintage|location=New York|isbn=978-0141029351}}</ref>

In 1999, O'Neill sent a close associate named [[Mark Rossini]] to work in the CIA's [[Bin Laden Issue Station]] in Virginia. O'Neill had a conflict with CIA station chief [[Michael Scheuer]]: O'Neill wanted Rossini to stay at the station and feed him information about what the CIA was doing,<ref name=nowoduff>Nowosielski, Ray, and John Duffy [http://secrecykills.com/transcript  secrecykills.com website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111126035853/http://secrecykills.com/transcript |date=November 26, 2011 }} Audio documentary transcript entitled ''Who is Rich Blee?'' (September 20, 2011)</ref> while Rich Blee, who had been appointed by CIA chief [[George Tenet]] to head of the Bin Laden Issue Station,<ref>{{cite book |first=Steve |last=Coll |author-link=Steve Coll |title=[[Ghost Wars]] |publisher=Penguin Books |year=2004|pages=451–2; 455–6}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=9/11 Commission Report |author=9/11 Commission |author-link=9/11 Commission |url=https://archive.org/details/911commissionrep00nati/page/14 |date=July 22, 2004 |place=New York |publisher=W.W. Norton |isbn=0-393-32671-3 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/911commissionrep00nati/page/14 14; 142; 204] |url-access=registration }}</ref> wanted Rossini out working in the field. Later, when the Bin Laden Issue Station learned that bin Laden's associates [[Nawaf al-Hazmi]] and [[Khalid al-Mihdhar]] were headed to the US with visas, Rossini and his colleague Doug Miller attempted to alert O'Neill, but CIA agent Alfreda Bikowsky allegedly blocked the message. Mihdhar and Hazmi became two of the hijackers of [[American Airlines Flight 77]] on 9/11.<ref name=nowoduff/>

Following the December 1999 arrest of [[Ahmed Ressam]], O'Neill coordinated the investigation into the [[2000 millennium attack plots]], described by Richard Clarke as "the most comprehensive investigation ever conducted before September 11th."<ref name=NewYorker/> O'Neill has been described as having a close working relationship with [[Ali Soufan]].<ref>Edmonds, Sibel. (September 10, 2011. "[http://www.boilingfrogspost.com/2011/09/10/podcast-show-55/ Podcast Show #55: The Boiling Frogs Presents Ray Nowosielski & John Duffy]". ''Sibel Edmonds' Boiling Frogs.'' 51:55 mark.</ref>

===2000===
After being passed over for multiple promotions (to assistant director in charge of national security in 1999 and to head of the FBI's New York office in early 2000<ref name=NewYorker/>), O'Neill was pleased to be assigned as commander of the FBI's investigation into the [[USS Cole bombing|USS ''Cole'' bombing]] in October 2000. However, upon arriving in [[Yemen]], he complained about inadequate security. As his team investigated, O'Neill came into conflict with [[Barbara Bodine]], the U.S. ambassador to Yemen. The two had widely divergent views on how to handle searches of Yemeni property, and interviews with citizens and government officials, and they only grew further apart as time progressed.<ref name=Kolker/>

After two months in Yemen, O'Neill returned to New York. He hoped to go back to Yemen to continue the investigation, but was blocked by Bodine and others; the dispute made the US press.<ref name=Kolker/> Following threats against the remaining FBI investigators, FBI Director Freeh withdrew the team, on O'Neill's recommendation, in June 2001.<ref name=NewYorker/>

===Retirement===
[[File:12.6.11JohnP.O'NeillPanelN-63ByLuigiNovi1.jpg|thumb|right|O'Neill's name is located on Panel N-63 of the [[National September 11 Memorial]]'s North Pool.]]
In early 2001, [[Richard A. Clarke]], the National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Counter-terrorism wanted to move to another position; he insisted O'Neill was the best person to replace him. O'Neill proved reluctant, not least because of the relatively low salary. When O'Neill heard of upcoming leaks to ''[[The New York Times]]'' about the May 2000 incident in which his briefcase had been stolen, he decided to retire from the bureau and take a higher-paying job in the private sector, as chief of security at the World Trade Center.<ref name=NewYorker/>

An August 19, 2001, ''The New York Times'' report by [[James Risen]] and David Johnston suggested that O'Neill had been the subject of an "internal investigation" at the FBI because O'Neill was responsible for losing a briefcase with "highly classified information" in it, including among other things "a description of every counterespionage and counterterrorism program in New York." The briefcase was recovered shortly after its disappearance.

The FBI investigation was reported to have concluded that the briefcase had been snatched by local thieves involved in a series of hotel burglaries and that none of the documents inside had been removed or even touched.<ref name=NYTimes>{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B02E3DF113EF93AA2575BC0A9679C8B63|title=F.B.I. Is Investigating a Senior Counterterrorism Agent|first1=David |last1=Johnston |first2=James |last2=Risen |date=August 19, 2001|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> Several people came to O'Neill's defense, suggesting that he was the subject of a "smear campaign".<ref name=NYTimes/> One of O'Neill's associates later claimed that O'Neill believed the source for the ''Times'' story was FBI official [[Thomas J. Pickard]].<ref>"The Man Who Knew". ''[[Frontline (U.S. TV series)|Frontline]]''. [[PBS]].</ref> The ''Times'' reported that O'Neill was expected to retire in late August.

O'Neill started his new job at the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]] on August 23, 2001. In late August, he talked to his friend Chris Isham about the job. Jokingly, Isham said, "At least they're not going to bomb it again", a reference to the [[1993 World Trade Center bombing]]. O'Neill replied, "They'll probably try to finish the job."<ref name="NewYorker">{{cite web |author=Wright |first=Lawrence |author-link=Lawrence Wright |date=January 6, 2002 |title=The Counter-Terrorist |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2002/01/14/the-counter-terrorist |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141117113651/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2002/01/14/the-counter-terrorist |archive-date=November 17, 2014 |access-date=October 3, 2021 |magazine=[[The New Yorker]]}}</ref>

==Death==
[[File:JohnPOneillGraveStone.jpg|thumb|O'Neill's gravestone at Holy Cross Cemetery, [[Mays Landing, New Jersey]]]]
O'Neill was killed on September 11, 2001, in the collapse of the World Trade Center towers.<ref name=CNN>{{cite news|title=FBI terrorist fighter's body found at WTC|date=September 22, 2001|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2001/US/09/21/vic.body.terror.expert|publisher=[[CNN]]|access-date=April 16, 2015|archive-date=January 28, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190128071559/http://edition.cnn.com/2001/US/09/21/vic.body.terror.expert/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Wesley Wong, an FBI agent who had known O'Neill for more than twenty years, and was in the command center with O'Neill that had been set up following the North Tower crash, last saw O'Neill walking toward a tunnel leading to the South Tower,<ref name=NewYorker/> likely to assist in that building's evacuation and gather surveillance footage from the security offices located there.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.911memorial.org/connect/blog/john-oneills-fbi-jacket-and-passport-embody-his-enduring-fight-against-terrorism|title=John O'Neill's FBI Jacket and Passport Embody His Enduring Fight Against Terrorism|publisher=[[National September 11 Memorial & Museum]]|access-date=June 11, 2020|archive-date=June 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611172300/https://www.911memorial.org/connect/blog/john-oneills-fbi-jacket-and-passport-embody-his-enduring-fight-against-terrorism}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-sep-29-mn-51283-story.html|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|author=Meyer, Joshua|title=Anti-Terrorist Elite Bury Victim of Cause|date=September 29, 2001|access-date=June 11, 2020|archive-date=June 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611172909/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-sep-29-mn-51283-story.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Martin, Laura|url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/john-p-o-neill-a-looming-tower-true-story-fbi-agent-9-11-attacks-the-looming-tower-284970|title=John P. O'Neill: the true story of the FBI agent featured in 9/11 attacks drama The Looming Tower|newspaper=[[i (British newspaper)|i]]|date=May 12, 2019|access-date=June 11, 2020|archive-date=June 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611172445/https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/john-p-o-neill-a-looming-tower-true-story-fbi-agent-9-11-attacks-the-looming-tower-284970}}</ref> O'Neill's body was recovered from the debris of the [[List of tenants in 2 World Trade Center|South Tower]] on September 21.<ref name=CNN/>

O'Neill is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in [[Mays Landing, New Jersey]].<ref>{{cite news|title=The man who knew too much' Unsung American hero thwarted by Bush and Clinton|url = https://www.chestnuthilllocal.com/2011/02/17/the-man-who-knew-too-much-unsung-american-hero-thwarted-by-bush-and-clinton/|newspaper=Chestnut Hill Local|access-date=October 21, 2018|date=February 17, 2011}}</ref> At the [[National September 11 Memorial & Museum|National 9/11 Memorial]], O'Neill is memorialized at the North Pool, on Panel N-63.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://names.911memorial.org/#lang=en_US&page=person&id=4940|title=North Pool: Panel N-63 - John P. O'Neill|publisher=[[National September 11 Memorial & Museum]]|access-date=October 29, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130727095710/http://names.911memorial.org/#lang=en_US&page=person&id=4940|archive-date=July 27, 2013}}</ref>

==Media==
O'Neill's counter-terrorism work at the FBI as well as insights into his character and private life have been extensively detailed in books and documentaries about the lead-up to the September 11 attacks, including the following:

===Books===
*{{cite book|title=The Black Banners|date=2011|author= Soufan, Ali|author-link= Ali Soufan}}
*{{cite book|last=Weiss |first=Murray|title=The Man Who Warned America|date=2003}}
*{{cite book|title=[[The Looming Tower]]|date=2006|author= Wright, Lawrence|author-link= Lawrence Wright}}

===Television===
*''The Man Who Knew'' (2002), a ''[[Frontline (U.S. TV series)|Frontline]]'' [[documentary film|documentary]] about O'Neill 
*''[[The Path to 9/11]]'' (2006), a two-part ABC television miniseries whose protagonist, O'Neill, is portrayed by [[Harvey Keitel]]
*''[[The Looming Tower (miniseries)|The Looming Tower]]'' (2018), [[Hulu]]'s 10-episode television miniseries adaptation of Wright's eponymous 2006 book, in which O'Neill is portrayed by [[Jeff Daniels]]

==See also==
*[[Rick Rescorla]], a Vietnam War veteran and Morgan Stanley's WTC head of security who died in the attacks on 9/11

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=FBI terrorist fighter's body found at WTC |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2001/US/09/21/vic.body.terror.expert/ |publisher=[[CNN]] |location=New York City |date=September 22, 2001 |access-date=September 7, 2016 |archive-date=July 1, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190701132216/http://edition.cnn.com/2001/US/09/21/vic.body.terror.expert/ |url-status=dead }}
* [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/knew/ ''Frontline'': ''The Man Who Knew'' | PBS] ''[[Frontline (U.S. TV series)|Frontline]]'' published October 3, 2002
* [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/knew/etc/script.html ''Frontline'': ''The Man Who Knew'' transcript | PBS] ''[[Frontline (U.S. TV series)|Frontline]]'' [[(c)]] 2002
* [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/bushswar/cron/ ''Frontline'': ''Bush's War'': video timeline | PBS] ''[[Frontline (U.S. TV series)|Frontline]]'' 1980s–2007 posted March 24, 2008
* [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/03/AR2008050302047.html Probe of USS ''Cole'' Bombing Unravels] ''[[The Washington Post]]'' May 4, 2008
* {{Cite magazine |last = Junod |first = Tom |author-link = Tom Junod |title = The Man Who Was Supposed to Save Us |magazine = Esquire | date = March 1, 2002  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090629154705/http://www.esquire.com/ESQ0302-MAR_ANTITERROR|url=http://www.esquire.com/ESQ0302-MAR_ANTITERROR | archive-date=June 29, 2009| access-date = September 11, 2012 }}
* {{cite web |url= http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/sept11/features/5513/ |title= O'Neill Versus Osama |author= Robert Kolker |author-link= Robert Kolker |date= December 17, 2001 |magazine= [[New York (magazine)|New York]] }}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSyFD51vN_4WKJO: Who Killed John O'Neill?]
* [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/video-a-1997-interview-with-oneill/ Video: A 1997 Interview with O'Neill]

{{Authority control}}
{{Casualties of the September 11 attacks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oneill, John P.}}
[[Category:1952 births]]
[[Category:2001 deaths]]
[[Category:American University alumni]]
[[Category:Counterinsurgency theorists]]
[[Category:Federal Bureau of Investigation executives]]
[[Category:George Washington University alumni]]
[[Category:Guerrilla warfare theorists]]
[[Category:Holy Spirit High School (New Jersey) alumni]]
[[Category:People associated with the September 11 attacks]]
[[Category:People from Atlantic City, New Jersey]]
[[Category:People murdered in New York City]]
[[Category:Politics of Yemen]]
[[Category:Psychological warfare theorists]]
[[Category:Terrorism deaths in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Scholars of terrorism]]
[[Category:Victims of the September 11 attacks]]
[[Category:People in counterterrorism]]