A retired Marine vet who fought off Islamic militants during the siege of the US diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, cheered the capture of one of the attackers who led the fatal assault.
The 2012 attack left four Americans, including two Navy SEALs, dead.
“I’m glad that we were able to hold him accountable, if for no other reason it lets everyone else in the world know we don’t stop. We don’t quit,” Mark “Oz” Geist told The Post.
Mark Geist, pictured with his Belgian Malinois Rone, welcomed the arrest of Benghazi attack suspect Zubayar al-Bakoush Andrew Thomas – CNP for NY Post“We’re going to go after people that hurt Americans.”
Zubayar al-Bakoush, who The Post revealed can be seen in damning video footage outside the embassy compound the day of the Sept. 11th attack, is now in US custody.
“He was one of the senior guys of Ansar al-Sharia,” a militia trying to impose sharia law on Libya, said Geist, who was briefed by US officials shortly before Bakoush, 58, was brought to DC to face murder and terror conspiracy charges.
Geist, a longtime government contractor, helped fight off the fierce attack, which left his body pierced with two dozen holes. He still has 16 pieces of shrapnel in his body after undergoing multiple surgeries on his arm, hand and stomach.
Geist, who has logged 22 deployments overseas, was positioned on the roof of the CIA annex located near the embassy compound.
The Colorado native now focuses on his Shadow Warriors Project, which provides financial help, positive experiences, and K-9 companionship to those who served “silently behind enemy lines” working for “three-letter agencies.”
Zubayar al-Bakoush now faces charges in Washington, DC. FBIAs soon as he was shipped to a military hospital for treatment after the attack, Geist said he stopped getting paid, since he was no longer in-country.
He travels regularly with his own highly-trained companion animal, a dark-haired Belgian malinois named Rone, after the code name used by fellow contractor Tyrone Woods, who was one of the four Americans killed.
US Ambassador Chris Stevens, contractor Glen Doherty, and IT officer Sean Smith were the other victims.
The incident was the basis of a film, “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi,” which was co-authored by Geist ©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection
Geist, seen here battling a bout of COVID, had to undergo multiple surgeries following the attacks. Mark Geist/ Instagram
The Post revealed images from the scene of the attack that could be used against Bakoush at trial. Obtained by NY PostGeist says he’ll likely attend some of the trial of Bakoush, who according to his criminal indictment, was one of 20 armed militants to breach the gates of the US Mission in Benghazi.
Geist said he tries not to dwell on those who are still on the loose.
“I can’t let them occupy space in my brain,” he said.
