The brother of late NFL star and U.S. army ranger Pat Tillman had been struggling with ‘severe mental health issues’ before his arrest at the weekend, his family have said.
Richard Tillman was taken into custody by cops in San Jose, California on Sunday after allegedly drivng his car into a post office and causing a huge blaze. He is being held on $60,000 bail.
Kevin Tillman, his brother, has outlined how Richard had been struggling for ‘many years’ before Sunday’s incident.
He told NBC Bay Area: ‘To be clear, it’s no secret that Richard has been battling severe mental health issues for many years. He has been livestreaming, what I’ll call, his altered self on social media for anyone to witness.
‘Unfortunately, securing the proper care and support for him has proven incredibly difficult – or rather, impossible.
‘As a result, none of this is as shocking as it should be.’
Richard Tillman, the brother of Cpl. Pat Tillman, speaking at his funeral in April, 2004
A car, allegedly driven by Richard Tillman, crashed into a post office in San Jose
Officers reportedly discovered a burning vehicle crashed into the post office on the 6500 block of Crown Boulevard at around 3am. The fire spread to the rest of the building, although no injuries were reported.
Pat Tillman famously abandoned his NFL career to join the US Army at the onset of then-President George W. Bush’s War on Terror in 2002.
After deployments in both Iraq and Afghanistan, Tillman was killed in a friendly fire incident in April of 2004 near the Pakistan border at the age of 27.
Tillman would be used in Operation Iraqi Freedom, but was later returned to Afghanistan in 2004, where it was originally reported that he was killed by enemy combatants.
The Army initially claimed that the unit was ambushed near the Pakistani border, but subsequent investigations later revealed that he was the victim of friendly fire.
An Afghan Militia Force allied soldier was killed in the incident and Tillman’s platoon leader and another soldier were also wounded.
At Tillman’s funeral, Richard gave a brash speech reminding mourners that his brother was an atheist.
‘Just make no mistake, he’d want me to say this: He’s not with God, he’s f***ing dead, he’s not religious. Thanks for your thoughts, but he’s f***in’ dead,’ he said.
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