In this Fox News 19 “Reality Check,” Veteran Brandon Raub’s attorney is interviewed about Mr. Raub’s involuntary commitment at a mental hospital. Additional details about Raub’s background, including the fact that he was a straight-A student, are revealed in this newscast.
Veteran of the Afghan and Iraq wars, ex-Marine Brandon Raub was interviewed yesterday about his 30-day commitment to a psych ward because of his anti-federal government Facebook postings:
The man who gave the Black Panther Party some of its first firearms and weapons training – which preceded fatal shootouts with Oakland police in the turbulent 1960s – was an undercover FBI informer, according to a former bureau agent and an FBI report. Read more from this story HERE.
A former Marine involuntarily detained for psychiatric evaluation for posting strident anti-government messages on Facebook has received an outpouring of support from people who say authorities are trampling on his First Amendment rights.
Brandon J. Raub, 26, has been in custody since FBI, Secret Service agents and police in Virginia’s Chesterfield County questioned him Thursday evening about what they said were ominous posts talking about a coming revolution. In one message earlier this month according to authorities, Raub wrote: “Sharpen my axe; I’m here to sever heads.”
Police — acting under a state law that allows emergency, temporary psychiatric commitments upon the recommendation of a mental health professional — took Raub to the John Randolph Medical Center in Hopewell. He was not charged with any crime.
A Virginia-based civil liberties group, The Rutherford Institute, dispatched one of its attorneys to the hospital to represent Raub at a hearing Monday. A judge ordered Raub detained for another month, Rutherford executive director John Whitehead said.
“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,” Whitehead said.
Read more from this story HERE.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported today that Brandon Raub, the Marine veteran whose mother claims was arrested because of his patriotic Facebook postings, was not actually arrested but was instead placed in a psychiatric ward “in a local hospital after being picked up by federal and local law enforcement officials concerned about threatening Internet postings.”
In a telephone interview with the Times-Dispatch, Raub stated that, “I’m currently in John Randolph in the psychiatric ward being held against my will.”
Raub, a marine sergeant in the combat engineers with service time in both Afghanistan and Iraq, said that the FBI and local law enforcement were “concerned about me calling for the arrest of government officials.”
In the Times-Dispatch interview, Raub affirmed that during his 20 or 30 minute interview with the Secret Service, he was “very cooperative and answered everything honestly. I really love America, and I think that idea that you can be detained and sent somewhere without due process and a lawyer … is crazy.”
A spokeswoman for the Richmond FBI office affirmed that the FBI had received reports about Raub’s Facebook posts and suggest that that was the reason that the FBI interviewed Raub in the presence of the local police officers. The agency also denied arresting Raub. Beyond that, the FBI refused to comment.
Although the Secret Service was allegedly present during the arrest, the Washington, D.C. office stated that it had not arrested or charged Raub.
Since his discharge, Raub had been running a silver coin business out of his home.
See Mr. Raub being taken into custody HERE, his mother’s interview HERE, and the Facebook postings HERE.
Photo credit: ITIF
U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder of Kansas apologized to his constituents Sunday night after a published report revealed the freshman lawmaker swam nude in the Sea of Galilee during a private fact-finding trip to the Mideast last August.
Politico reported the incident in a story on its website Sunday. The website said the FBI investigated the trip, which included other lawmakers and their spouses, as well as staff members.
“I feel incredibly remorseful that I have caused embarrassment to my constituents and I have caused folks who believe in me to be disappointed,” Yoder told The Star Sunday night.
“The gravity of the situation and the actions I’ve taken are not lost on me, and I feel certainly regret at what has occurred, and I just want to apologize to my constituents for a momentary lapse in judgment.”
It was not immediately clear what the FBI might have examined in relation to the trip. Yoder and his chief of staff, Travis Smith, said neither the Republican congressman nor any members of his staff had talked to the FBI.
Read more from this story HERE.
Just two days before his rest, Mr. Raub states that men will be at his house to pick him up to “lead” the Revolution. He gives his address:
The day before his arrest Mr. Raub cryptically states that “they will say he said it to the NSA first.”
His final post appears to be the trailer from The Last Samurai.
Scattered throughout Mr. Raub’s Facebook postings are a number of conspiracy theory postings involving Truther theories, the Bohemian Grove, contrail poisoning, the Illuminati, etc. He also criticizes Facebook and its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, suggesting that he knew his postings were being monitored.
There was a single overt reference to violence in the stand-alone “sharpening the axe to ‘sever heads'” comment. No Facebook threats were made toward the President or the Vice President.
My review of Mr. Raub’s Facebook page suggests a narcissistic self-delusion that he was going to be the leader of some sort of nationwide civil war. Either that, or the whole thing was a bad joke gone too far.
Nevertheless, as a former United States Magistrate Judge who has heard dozens of Glass warrant applications, my assessment is that the federal government likely had secured wiretaps on Mr. Raub’s telephone communications. It probably could have justified a warrant on the basis of what was posted on Facebook. Given the character of Mr. Raub’s Facebook postings, his telephone communications may have been even wilder.
The unveiling of the federal government’s likely indictment next week should be interesting. We’ll be sure to report it here.
He becomes much, much more aggressive in his postings a little over a week ago, practically begging someone to take notice:
Mr. Raub also began to encourage veterans to join him in his revolution and sounds increasingly more desperate in these posts from August 10 and 12:
Last week, Mr. Raub claims “the cavalry are coming” to rescue us from our “evil” government, and references the impending civil war:
And then, he overtly references violence in this post from August 13:
Mr. Raub repeatedly attacks the New World Order:
Between December 2011 and July 2012, other than sporadic friend activity, there is only one post in April:
Clicking on the YouTube link in the April posting brings you to a DMX music video.
Fast forward to less than a month ago, July 24. In the below post, Mr. Raub says he wants “to get the revolution started” but needs “someone to pick me up”:
Starting three weeks ago, Mr. Raub became more vocal about the need for revolution:
And then, just two weeks ago, this:
Several of these Richmond Liberty Movement posts are replicated on the Mr. Raub’s personal Facebook page. On the personal page, Mr. Raub increasingly uses the word “Revolution” in his postings:
Mr. Raub even expressly states that he is “starting a revolution” because “the government has gone to [sic] far.”
He also challenges the nation’s leadership, claiming a conspiracy to enslave the American people:
