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Home / World

Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer challenges Dan Bilzerian to a fight

By Jennifer Smith
Daily Mail·
7 Oct, 2017 11:23 PM7 mins to read

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Dan Bilzerian seen running towards Las Vegas shooting and asking security if he could help. / Youtube

The veteran Marine and Medal of Honor winner sparring with King of Instagram Dan Bilzerian over how he responded to the Las Vegas massacre has taken their feud to new heights.

On Saturday, Dakota Meyer challenged Bilzerian to a fist fight, claiming in a video that the playboy social media star had been sharing his wife Bristol Palin's phone number with his friends since their public spat began.

The feud started when Meyer, who served in Afghanistan, slammed Bilzerian for filming himself running away from the Route 91 Harvest festival in Las Vegas on Sunday when gunman Stephen Paddock opened fire, reports Daily Mail.

Bilzerian live streamed the video on Facebook, telling fans that he had just seen a woman get shot in the head.

In his original criticism of the post, Meyer said it was "disgusting" that Bilzerian's immediate thought was to document the tragedy on social media instead of helping the wounded.

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Bilzerian fought back, sharing a video which showed him unsuccessfully begging police officers for a gun so that he could help take down the shooter.

He said Meyer was a "retard" for posting his criticism online.

On Saturday, Meyer revealed that since their feud went viral, his wife Bristol - who is the daughter of controversial former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin - had been receiving prank calls from Bilzerian's friends.

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Accusing the Instagram star of giving out her phone number, Meyer said: "So wake up this morning and I gotta tell you Dan. You wanted to get my attention? You got it baby, you got it. Here it is."

View this post on Instagram

Here @danbilzerian I'm done with your petty games. Don't ever drag my family into anything. I'm waiting

A post shared by Dakota Meyer (@dakotameyer0317) on Oct 7, 2017 at 8:32am PDT

"It's one thing you talk about me all day, I don't care. But here's the problem. My purpose in life is family.

"You wanna bring my family in this, you wanna put my wife in danger by putting her phone number out to people? You got your little friends trying to FaceTime her?

"My life's not a game and it's not entertainment either so what I will tell you is, my family's purpose is my purpose and now you're my mission."

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Meyer, staring coldly into the camera, continued: "This ain't an option. You just need to tell me when and where and if not we'll be somewhere together, I'm sure.

"Why don't we handle this like men? You got it? You got it, Dan? I'm waiting."

Bilzerian did not immediately respond to his threat.

Earlier in the week, he called Meyer a "blogger", a "retard" and a "coward".

Meyer scornfully responded to the last insult in his video on Saturday by reminding viewers of the Battle of Ganjgal - the deadly 2008 Taliban ambush which killed five US military personnel but which Meyer survived.

It was for his efforts in the battle that he was awarded the Medal of Honor by Barack Obama in 2011.

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In his video on Saturday, he said humblingly: "I'm a coward,let me help you out. You got me. I'm a failure, I'm a loser, I've lived with it for the last 2,091 days.

"I think about it every single day Dan,' he said of the battle.

Meyer then held up a wrist band to the camera. It appeared to contain the names of the 16 allied military personnel who died in the battle.

"You see that, you see that right there? I live with it every day. I look down at it every single day. I'm a coward, not because you say so, but because there are people who died that I couldn't save," he said.

Earlier in the week, Bilzerian recorded his own video about the father-of-two.

"Some Marine was saying that I was a p**** for running away and that I should have stood my ground when the guy was shooting at me with a machine gun.

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"So, I mean if we follow that retard's logic we'd probably have 600 dead if everyone stood their ground instead of running for cover," he said in his own video.

Bilzerian then claimed that he took two girls to hospital after the attack then went back to try to find the shooter and bring him down.

He shared footage of himself begging police officers at the scene for a gun to prove his version of events.

"You train, I train. Why don't we handle this like men? Why don't you stop talking s***
In the video, an officer shouts at him: 'No, get the f*** away from me right now, I don't know who the f*** you are."

Bilzerian has also claimed since the row began that he is a "sworn commissioned reserve police officer".

It was for his efforts in the battle that he was awarded the Medal of Honour by Barack Obama in 2011. Photo / Getty Images
It was for his efforts in the battle that he was awarded the Medal of Honour by Barack Obama in 2011. Photo / Getty Images

"This video is from my friends iPhone, I found out later he was recording during the Vegas shooting.

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"I'm a sworn commissioned reserve police officer, I wouldn't normally tell you that, but I think it's important you know that for the context of this video.

"I am not a medic or a hero in anyway, my instinct when someone is shooting at me is to get a gun and shoot back.

"There's a lot of media and keyboard commandos saying people who ran were cowards, this is probably the dumbest thing I've ever read, and the next time there is a mass shooting, everyone who doesn't have a gun should absolutely run, it is so sad and pathetic that I even have to clarify that in anyway," he said in a Facebook post.

Meyer was awarded the Medal of Honor in 2011 for his courage during the Battle of Ganjgal in Afghanistan in 2008.

Five US servicemen died in the six-hour battle along with eight Afghan soldiers and an Afghan translator.

The American victims were Army Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth Westbrook, Navy Corpsman Petty Officer 3rd Class James R. Layton, Marine Gunnery Sgt. Aaron M. Kenefick, Marine 1st Lt. Michael E. Johnson and Marine Gunnery Sgt. Edwin W. Johnson.

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The ambush was the subject of a military investigation and two US Army officials were reprimanded over it.

The investigation found that poor communication and pre-planning meant there was an unnecessary delay in the troops receiving the back-up they called for when ambushed.
Meyer and Army Captain William D. Swenson were both given the Medal of Honor.

Meyer was at the time the first living Marine to receive the honor since the Vietnam War.

He was credited by President Barack Obama with saving 36 lives with his constant gunfire.

He ignored orders to stay put and drove directly into the line of fire in a Humvee.

Bristol is the daughter of controversial former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin (above together in 2010 when Bristol participated in Dancing With the Stars). Photo / Getty Images
Bristol is the daughter of controversial former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin (above together in 2010 when Bristol participated in Dancing With the Stars). Photo / Getty Images

Bristol chimes in: Palin's daughter says 'impotent' Bilzerian 'impeded' police work in Vegas

Bristol Palin weighed in on her husband and Bilzerian's row on Friday in a blog post on her website.

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In reference to Bilzerian's failed attempt to get a gun from a Las Vegas police officer, she said he "impeded" their efforts to capture or disarm shooter Stephen Paddock.

"Bilzerian actually impeded the police work of Las Vegas officers. While the shooter rained bullets down on the crowd, Bilzerian showed the cop his carry permit and asked for his weapon.

"On what planet would a police officer give a random stranger his weapon... during an active shooter scenario?" she said.

She went on to slam the social media star for filming himself as others were slaughtered around him.

"In Bilzerian's mind, everyone should know who he is because he lives online and desperately wants the world to see him as a hero. But, when the moment arose, he wasn't prepared.

"When someone was killed right before his eyes, his immediate response was to promote himself. This is, of course, the exact opposite of the way real men act during a tragedy," she wrote.

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In what is bound to be a stinging insult for Bilzerian, who prides himself on his macho lifestyle and endless lovers, she finished: "The nation needs more people willing to lay down their lives for others... not more men impotently striking a pose in front of a cell phone."

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