Richard Tillman Pleads Guilty to San José Post Office Arson

Richard Tillman, the younger brother of late NFL player and Army Ranger Pat Tillman Jr., pleaded guilty on Monday to a federal arson charge, accepting responsibility for setting fire to a South San José post office building last summer.

The plea to one count of malicious destruction of government property by fire is part of an agreement Tillman, who is originally from San José, and his attorney struck with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, according to court documents. It reverses Tillman’s initial plea of not guilty.

“Tillman admitted that he intentionally set the fire in order to ‘make a point to the United States government,’” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement on Monday afternoon.

Federal postal inspectors said that in the early morning hours of July 20, Tillman loaded his car with fireplace logs and soaked them in lighter fluid before backing into the Almaden Valley U.S. Post Office branch at 6525 Crown Blvd. and using a match to light the car on fire.

“The fire quickly spread from the vehicle to the post office, completely destroying its lobby,” the attorney’s office said. “The fire rendered the lobby unusable, and it has not been available to the public since then.”

No injuries were reported.

According to documents filed with the court, Tillman told San José police officers at the time of his arrest that he livestreamed the incident on YouTube using his phone.

The federal charge carries a minimum of five years in prison, and a maximum of 20 years, along with possible fines of up to $250,000, the attorney’s office said. His sentencing is scheduled for April 27.

Tillman was initially facing three state charges from Santa Clara County prosecutors for his actions, including felony arson and vandalism.

But his case was suspended by a judge so doctors could evaluate his competency to stand trial. At that hearing, Tillman made multiple outbursts, questioned the ability of his own county public defender, and said he would prove his competence “whenever you like.”

Later, after a federal indictment for the same incident was filed against Tillman, local prosecutors dismissed their case.

Tillman’s brother, former NFL player Pat Tillman Jr., was killed in Afghanistan in 2004 when members of his U.S. platoon fired on him and an Afghan militia member, mistaking them for enemy fighters.

The U.S. government subsequently attempted to cover up the truth about the killing, including by instructing an officer to lie to the soldier’s family about the circumstances of his death.

At the time, Richard Tillman told ESPN he didn’t believe the story that the military told of his older brother’s death.

In recent years, Richard Tillman often livestreamed on his YouTube account from behind the wheel of a parked car. He referred to himself as a god by the name of “Yeshua,” railed against the government and addressed posts to Taylor Swift as “Sweet Divine Soulmate Baby.”

After he was implicated in the arson of the post office last year, his brother Kevin Tillman shared a statement from his family that said Richard has been dealing with “severe mental health issues” for years.

“He has been livestreaming, what I’ll call, his altered self on social media for anyone to witness,” the statement said. “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.”