Father of Late Navy Seal Refused Trump Meeting, Calls on Government for Investigation

Bill Owens, the father of deceased Navy SEAL William “Ryan” Owens, refused a meeting with President Donald Trump. He is demanding a government investigation into the operation that took his son’s life.

William Owens, a 37-year-old father of three who’d been a SEAL for 15 years, was the loan American casualty in a January 27 raid on a suspected al-Qaida compound in Yemen that lead to the deaths of 16 civilians and 14 militants. The operation has been criticized as many have questioned the validity and necessity of the mission.

In a story originally published by the Miami Herald, Bill Owens confirmed that he had been offered a meeting with President Trump when he was at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to receive his son’s remains.

“I told them I didn’t want to make a scene about it, but my conscience wouldn’t let me talk to him. Why at this time did there have to be this stupid mission when it wasn’t even barely a week into his administration? Why? For two years prior, there were no boots on the ground in Yemen — everything was missiles and drones — because there was not a target worth one American life. Now, all of a sudden we had to make this grand display?,” Owens told the paper.

Bill Owens also demanded an explanation, saying, “The government owes my son an investigation.”

Appearing on ABC’s weekend politics show This Week, White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee said of Owens, “I can’t imagine what this father is going through. His son is a true American hero, and we should forever be in his son’s debt.”

She also defended the mission, telling host George Stephanopoulos, “The mission has a lot of different critics, but it did yield a substantial amount of very important intel and resources that helped save American lives and other lives.”