The father of a Navy SEAL killed during a raid in Yemen chose not to meet US President Donald Trump when the soldier's casket arrived back in the United States, a US newspaper says.
"I told them I didn't want to make a scene about it, but my conscience wouldn't let me talk to him," Bill Owens, father of Chief Special Warfare Operator William "Ryan" Owens, told The Miami Herald.
Ryan Owens, 36, was killed during a raid on al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in January.
Bill Owens told the Herald he was troubled by the way Trump, during his campaign, treated the family of a fallen US Muslim soldier, and said he questioned the decision to launch the raid that resulted in his son's death.
Owens said he told a chaplain at the event at Dover Air Force Base that he didn't want to meet the president and sat in a separate room while Trump met other family members, the paper said.
"I'm sorry, I don't want to see him," Owens told the Herald. "I told them I don't want to meet the president."
Owens also said the government "owes my son an investigation."
The White House has defended the raid, saying "important intelligence" was captured. An estimated 14 AQAP members also were killed, according to US Central Command.
