Posted on 08/20/2012 1:02:58 PM PDT by LadyEleanor
The former Marine who was detained by the federal government over Facebook posts critical of the government is being held in a psychiatric ward, Peter Bacqué of the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Murtha.
Travis posted some lines from Raub’s FB page yesterday:
3) I am standing against a great evil. I will do it all by myself if I have to. 8/4/12
5) This is the part where I tell the Federal Government to go **** [db edit] itself. This is the part where I tell Generals, training our young men to fight Americans, I am coming for you. The Veterans will be with me. 8/9/12
6) I’m starting the Revolution. I’m done waiting. 8/10/12
7) Sharpen up my axe; I’m here to sever heads. 8/13/12
The one item I see as a potential threat is “This is the part where I tell Generals, training our young men to fight Americans, I am coming for you.”
But that is still something of a leap, as opposed to a posted threat to kill a specific figure such as a congresscritter.
I think this is a gross overreaction after Virginia Tech (this is happening in Virginia with new laws about involuntary commitment in play after that incident) and the recent shootings as well.
The full Rutherford statement:
Former US Marine Brandon Raub ordered to remain in custody
CHESTERFIELD, VA— The Rutherford Institute has come to the defense of a former Marine, 26-year-old Brandon Raub, who was arrested, detained indefinitely in a psych ward and forced to undergo psychological evaluations based solely on the controversial nature of lines from song lyrics, political messages and virtual card games which he posted to his private Facebook page.
Although the FBI and Chesterfield County police have not charged Brandon Raub, a resident of Chesterfield County, Va., with committing any crime, they arrested Raub on Thursday, August 16, 2012, and transported him to John Randolph Medical Center, where he was held against his will due to alleged concerns that his Facebook (FB) posts were controversial and “terrorist in nature.” In a hearing held at the hospital, government officials disregarded Raub’s explanation that the Facebook posts were being interpreted out of context, sentencing him up to 30 days’ further confinement in a VA psych ward. In coming to Raub’s defense, Rutherford Institute attorneys are challenging Raub’s arrest and forcible detention, as well as the government’s overt Facebook surveillance and violation of Raub’s First Amendment rights.
“For government officials to not only arrest Brandon Raub for doing nothing more than exercising his First Amendment rights but to actually force him to undergo psychological evaluations and detain him against his will goes against every constitutional principle this country was founded upon. This should be a wake-up call to Americans that the police state is here,” said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. “Brandon Raub is no different from the majority of Americans who use their private Facebook pages to post a variety of content, ranging from song lyrics and political hyperbole to trash talking their neighbors, friends and government leaders.”
Brandon Raub, a former Marine who has served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, was detained by FBI agents and police officers at his home in Chesterfield County based upon the nature of content posted to his Facebook page in recent months. Like many Facebook users, Raub uses his FB page to post songs lyrics and air his political opinions, as well as engage in virtual online games with other users. On Thursday, August 16, police and FBI agents arrived at Raub’s home, asking to speak with him about his Facebook posts. They did not provide Raub with a search warrant. Raub was cooperative and agreed to speak with them.
Without providing any explanation, levying any charges against Raub or reading him his rights, law enforcement officials then handcuffed Raub and transported him first to the police headquarters, then to John Randolph Medical Center, where he was held against his will. Outraged onlookers filmed the arrest and posted the footage to YouTube. Law enforcement officials have stated in press reports that Raub was not arrested. However, as attorney John Whitehead points out, if the police have put handcuffs on you and you’re being held against your will, that qualifies as an arrest.
In a hearing before a judge on August 20, government officials again pointed to Raub’s Facebook posts as the sole reason for their concern and for his continued incarceration. Ignoring Raub’s explanations about the fact that the FB posts were being read out of context and his attorney’s First Amendment defense, the judge agreed that Raub should be incarcerated at a VA hospital for up to 30 more days. Rutherford Institute attorneys are working to challenge Raub’s detention and the highly unconstitutional nature of the government’s actions.
Thanks for the information.
At the risk of riling the FReepers who hate me for too often criticizing a certain long-running, late-night "nonpartisan" radio show -- which I shall never mention again by name -- the host and guests of that show say those things all the time.
There have been no claims of the Bush family and molesting children but the Bush family is regularly blamed for everything else. So arrest George Noory and the produc.. uh, I mean . . . D'oh!
The names of Raub and Lt. Col. Aikin( sp?) will live in history of the USA as victims of infamy as much as Pearl Harbor. All the people who came and helped escort Raub into custody must be recorded so that history can judge these as USA versions of the Gestapo or KGB. I’m constantly asking myself, as a WWII vet, how USA people cannot see such actions make them and their so called allegiances despicable to the freedom this Nation was founded on and I believed I fought for and my brother died for. I don’t need/tolerate any excuse for such actions.
Just heard of this yesterday via a local Marine (my son’s friend) who was in the ‘stan with Brandon last year. Dang.
If they can haul this guy away in handcuffs over these posts, how long before Palin is hauled away? How long before a freeper is hauled away?
ping!
Guess they need to dig up TJ and put him in the psych ward. He is a Virginian, after all.
Being held in a psych ward is harder to get out of than a jail. For instance, if you voluntarily commit yourself then change your mind, you must wait 72 hours. That gives them 72 hours to work on you.
If those posts were what this is all about I expect they’ll be coming for a lot of FReepers before Nov.
Ping for occurrence tracking.
Let’s see, a guy makes some posts on Facebook that are a bit paranoid about the government. Government responds by showing up at his house and whisking him away to a psych ward without a warrant or hearing.
Yeah, that is really going to remedy his paranoid thoughts about the government.
Life imitates the Onion:
Here is where I see the problem to be - from the local police report:
http://wtvr.com/2012/08/20/chesterfield-police-raub-resisted-officers-was-taken-for-evaluation/
Chesterfield Police assisted federal authorities in their efforts to interview Brandon J. Raub on Thursday, Aug. 16. After speaking to Raub, officers believed him to be in need of further evaluation.
Chesterfield officers at the scene contacted Chesterfield Mental Health Crisis Intervention. Crisis workers recommended that police take Raub into custody and bring him in for evaluation.
Chesterfield police took Raub into custody for evaluation in accordance with Virginia State Code § 37.2-808 Emergency custody.
So what is wrong with § 37.2-808 that someone who has not made a specific threat to anyone can be involuntarily committed?
This is why conservatives were very concerned about such laws in the first place - that political views would become grounds for commitment.
And I don’t agree with Raub at all, he’s a truther and I loathe truthers. But he has a right to post what he wants on a website that allows such.
“FBI agent Sherry Grainger reportedly told Thomas her son was making “threats that were terrorist in nature”.”
Then bring forth your CRIMINAL EVIDENCE, Book Him, and Indict Him!
Tossing him into a Psych Ward is a convenient way of Ruining Him, completely Outside of the Law! If you think it’s legal, Read the actual Federal Civil Rights Statutes.
http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/18C13.txt
It’s not just his 2nd Amendment Rights they stole, it’s #1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.
Very effectively...The 30's an 40's in particular.
Of course in the 30's, being committed to the asylum was just another route to the firing squads that purged 50-100 million terrorists who believed in freedom & liberty.
We can expect more and more of this once obamcare is running full tilt. A measure of a person's mental health will depend, first and foremost, on adherence to marxist ideology.
This does not bode well for the 90% of Freeperdom who aren't among the marxist moles who have trolled the bandwidth since the election of 2000.
Well played. Well played indeed. I stand corrected.
What a difference a year makes. Last year leftist government officials were applauding the Occupy movement, which made numerous terrorist threats against the banking industry. Even naming bankers by name.
“They can’t prove the terrorist threats but they can get him non-vol to a mental hospital quite easily and once that happens good bye guns!.”
So, what redress does this guy have? Can he sue for unlawful arrest, or did the judge just make it lawful? What do they have to do to legally take his guns? And if they do, what can he do to get his rights reinstated?
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