Wiley Drake on supporters to use imprecatory prayer to pray for the punishment and even deaths of certain AU members, drawing controversy. In May 2008, Drake announced that he had been cleared of any wrongdoing by the IRS. Drake ran for Vice President of the United States in 2008, along with presidential candidate Alan Keyes, on the American Independent Party ticket in the state of California. Drake was widely criticized for his response to the murder of abortion provider George Tiller on May 31, 2009. Drake stated on his Crusade Radio Program, "I am glad George Tiller is dead." He called Tiller
George Tiller Nazi war criminals, while Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Professor Jacob Appel described Tiller as "a genuine hero who ranks alongside Susan B. Anthony and Martin Luther King Jr. in the pantheon of defenders of human liberty". The trial took place in March 2009, with the jury finding Tiller not guilty on all charges on March 27, approximately two months before his death. Dr. Tiller struggled with substance abuse, which came to a head in 1984 when he was arrested for driving under the influence. He sought treatment, overcame his difficulties, and later served on the Kansas Medical