To Kill A Terrorist In Self Defense: The Matthew E. O'Neil Story
To Kill A Terrorist In Self Defense: The Matthew E. O'Neil Story
Podcast Description
Matthew E. O'Neil (born March 7, 1976 Newton, Massachusetts) is a former Senior Airman in the United States Air Force that incapacitated and killed a terrorist on April 8, 2000 at 2 PM MST and was cleared by Colorado Springs Police Department. The incident occurred at a Colorado Springs, Colorado business. O'Neil was raised in Boston, Medfield, and Plymouth, Massachusetts. He attended Plymouth Public Schools from 1981 to 1994, finally graduating from Plymouth North High School ranked 47/217 in his high school class. O'Neil played youth baseball, soccer, and basketball. He then received superior instructions from top-flight boxing trainers while integrating weightlifting, running, and stretching into his boxing training. O'Neil competed as an amateur boxer in the U.S. Air Force with his positive results used as a catalyst to produce Plymouth's first NCAA Division I baseball scholarships. O'Neil coordinated with Plymouth North baseball coach Dwayne Follette to get the scholarships. That information is in the Plymouth Public Library book Everipedia Boxing Archives. Boxing trainer Kerry Pharr mentioned O'Neil on his Facebook Live podcast In Your Corner on July 14, 2025 at the 51:34 mark. O'Neil is of Irish-English ancestry.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast delves into themes of military experiences, personal resilience, and lessons learned, with episodes ranging from personal anecdotes from military personnel to analyses of significant military operations and events. Notable episodes include discussions on self-defense tactics, the mental health aspects of service members, and the impact of military experiences on civilian life.
Matthew E. O’Neil (born March 7, 1976 Newton, Massachusetts) is a former Senior Airman in the United States Air Force that incapacitated and killed a terrorist with a kung fu punch on April 8, 2000 at 2 PM MST and was cleared by Colorado Springs Police Department. The incident occurred at a Colorado Springs, Colorado business and was tied back to Operation Southern Watch. O’Neil was raised in Boston, Medfield, and Plymouth, Massachusetts. He attended Plymouth Public Schools from 1981 to 1994, finally graduating from Plymouth North High School ranked 47/217 in his high school class. O’Neil played youth baseball, soccer, and basketball. He then received superior instructions from top-flight boxing trainers while integrating weightlifting, running, and stretching into his boxing training. O’Neil competed as an amateur boxer in USA Boxing sanctioned matches while stationed on a U.S. Air Force military base in Colorado. The positive results of the matches were used as a catalyst to produce Plymouth’s first NCAA Division I baseball scholarships. O’Neil coordinated with Plymouth North High School baseball coach Dwayne Follette to get the scholarships. That information is in the Plymouth Public Library book Everipedia Boxing Archives. O’Neil’s incident with the terrorist is the records department of the Cape Cod Military Museum. The Fort Taber-Fort Rodman Military Museum has O’Neil’s picture and information on display in the museum. His final amateur boxing record is 2 wins and 0 losses (2 KO’s). He is of Irish-English ancestry.
In the final episode O’Neil thanked U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations, U.S. Department of Defense and Colorado Springs Police Department. He also thanked former Lockheed Martin employee Steve Griffin, former USA Boxing official Dickie Wood, former football coach Carl Freyermuth, baseball coach Dwayne Follette, his parents and his brother. O’Neil re-emphasized that he killed in self defense and that the Iraq War was justified. The Iraq War started in 2003 and ended in 2011. Former President of Iraq Saddam Hussein was executed by firing squad on December 30, 2006. O’Neil believes that the terrorist that he killed in Colorado Springs, Colorado was sponsored by Saddam Hussein and Iraq.
Dickie Wood was the co-trainer of WBC heavyweight world boxing champion Oleg Maskaev from 2006 to 2008. O’Neil was a physical education student of Carl Freyermuth for four years at Plymouth North High School from 1990 to 1994. Freyermuth won the Eastern Massachusetts high school football state championship twice as a head coach in 1984 and 1989. Follette has coached Plymouth North High School’s varsity baseball for over thirty years.
O’Neil’s incident with the terrorist is in many museums across New England, including Maine Military Museum and Learning Center, Fort Taber-Fort Rodman Military Museum, and Cape Cod Military Museum. His incident is the only cleared kill of a domestic terrorist in connection to Operation Southern Watch. The results of O’Neil’s boxing matches were reported by journalist and writer John J. Raspanti in 2018. Raspanti wrote the article “You Only Live Once. Just Ask Matthew O’Neil” for the company Maxboxing. Raspanti co-authored the 2016 hardcover book Intimate Warfare: The True Story of the Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward Boxing Trilogy. The book Everipedia Boxing Archives has the results of O’Neil’s boxing matches. That book is in the library of The International Boxing Hall Of Fame. Everipedia Boxing Archives is also located in the Moise Memorial Library (NM.) and Nevada Library Cooperative.
Disclaimer
This podcast’s information is provided for general reference and was obtained from publicly accessible sources. The Podcast Collaborative neither produces nor verifies the content, accuracy, or suitability of this podcast. Views and opinions belong solely to the podcast creators and guests.
For a complete disclaimer, please see our Full Disclaimer on the archive page. The Podcast Collaborative bears no responsibility for the podcast’s themes, language, or overall content. Listener discretion is advised. Read our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy for more details.