Marie Tillman, Pat Tillman’s Widow, Condemns Trump Ban: This is ‘Not What He Died For’

Marie Tillman — the widow of Pat Tillman, who left the NFL to join the Army and was killed in Afghanistan in 2004 at the age of 27 — condemned the controversial executive order signed on Friday by President Donald Trump, which suspended immigration to the US for citizens of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, and Libya.

In a Facebook post, Marie Tillman said that her late husband “stood up to serve because he believed in the principles on which our country was founded,” and said he would not have approved of Trump’s action.

“Today I am deeply saddened by the news of the executive order banning immigration,” Marie Tillman said. “This is not the country he dreamed of, not what he served for and not what he died for.”

Tillman played four seasons for the Arizona Cardinals from 1998-2001. He left the team to enlist in the army, citing the 9/11 attacks as the reason he walked away from a lucrative football career. His death in April 2004 was the subject of much controversy, as it was initially ruled that he was killed in an ambush. In 2007, however, the Army ruled that Tillman’s death was caused by friendly fire.

[Marie Tillman image via screengrab/Pat Tillman image via US Army]

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