Chris Osman, former SEAL team 3 member and founder and former employee of Tactical Assault Gear, was arrested and charged with felony assault and battery of a teenager, stemming from an incident that took place on May 20th of this year.  (The Editorial Board has been contacted by TAG to clarify that they have not been affiliated or associated with Mr. Osman since February 2017.)

Among the ever-growing list of veteran owned and operated companies, Osman has made a name for his brand primarily through levying accusations at other, more prominent, veteran business owners. While the veteran community has been known to “eat its own,” Osman’s preferred method of attempted character assassination has resulted in a number of burned bridges within the Special Operations and SEAL community. Although so many veterans work to combat the violent and generally aggressive stereotypes so often attributed to them, Osman appears to have fallen victim the very clichés many within the Special Operations community strive to rise above; first through attacks on his fellow teammates, then through recurring alleged incidents of road rage and physical abuse of females, and now through the alleged assault of an unarmed man.

Osman served as a United States Marine, and then later as a Navy SEAL assigned to SEAL Team 3.  He also served alongside Brandon Webb, and has drawn a great deal of attention on various social media platforms in recent months for inflammatory statements made regarding the service of Webb and other prominent veterans.  These posts happen to tie into stickers and other products he produces and sells to commemorate his attacks on other veteran-owned businesses; an effort that proves transparent at the perusal of his posts, which includes far more references to other companies than to his own.

According to documents provided to us, Osman faces one count of assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury and one count of battery with serious bodily injury.  His victim was reportedly a teenager named Brandon Mansfield.  According to the official complaint produced by the Superior Court of California in San Diego County, Osman “personally inflicted great bodily injury upon Brandon Mansfield.”  Additionally, the State of California produced a personal protective order barring Osman from making contact with or being in the vicinity of Mansfield after the attack took place.

Osman was arrested for these crimes on September 1st of this year, and is expected in court Wednesday, December 6th.

Osman, like many veterans, owns and operates a military-oriented business that sells products ranging from tactical gear to stickers.  The social media posts on his private and business profiles, however, rely heavily on addressing other individuals or brands, seemingly with the intent to incite debate or outrage, thus driving more traffic to his endeavors.  We attempted to reach out to Osman earlier this year for a statement, but Osman declined both publicly and privately.

Worth noting that Osman has a history of assault, and was sent home early from a 2002 deployment for assaulting an Air Force officer.

Because Osman refused to discuss his claims against Brandon Webb, Webb himself penned a response to Osman’s frequent social media posts that can be read here.