Former US Marine Brandon Raub Incarcerated in Mental Hospital Because Feds Didn’t Like His Facebook Political Statements

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September 9th, 2012 Leave a comment Go to comments

On August 16, 2012, decorated US Marine combat veteran Brandon Raub of Virginia was detained and incarcerated in a mental hospital by the FBI, Secret Service, and local law enforcement of Chesterfield County acting on Federal government requests. The Rutherford Institute obtained his release after about a week of incarceration because the government had nothing to charge him with and could not show there was anything wrong with him.

Federal government agents, with police backup, showed up at Raub’s home to “interview” him. Below is a video of the cops hauling Raub away. Chesterfield police claim this was not an arrest, but the video shows what looks to any ordinary honest person to be an arrest. The video was reportedly filmed on the cell phone of a relative of Raub’s:

Raub Brandon arrested (fixed footage)

Raub was treated to what amounts to unwarranted arrest and incarceration because he posted controversial song lyrics and political views on his Facebook pages. In particular, the government claims he should be detained for psychiatric evaluation because he wrote “ominous” posts on Facebook on August 13 and 14, 2012.

Quoted from Outcry after military veteran detained for anti-government Facebook posts:

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.

That Facebook message is a paraphrase of the lyrics of the song Bring Me Down by the Canadian hip hop band Swollen Members who sang:

Sharpen up my axe and I am back, I’m here to sever heads.

On one of his multiple Facebook pages, Raub lists that he works for the “Ron Paul Revolution”, clearly referring to US Congressional Representative Ron Paul and his Libertarian political views. But the government interprets Raub’s Facebook post “The Revolution is about to start” as a sign that he is mentally ill.

Raub also questions how the government even learned about some of his posts because some of them were made on a private Facebook page he used to communicate with his relatives that was not visible to the general public.

A more complete view of Raub’s recent Facebook posts is painted by the article It’s Official: Facebook Is the Department of PreCrime:

He also promoted a small freedom march in Richmond, Virginia last November. It was peaceful and I’ve seen no problems reported. So, aside from a picture of him holding an old rifle, the only thing the overseers had on him were a few recent Facebook posts:

I feel like I am standing at a great crossroads. As if a storm of destiny is about to pick me up and take me to fight a great battle. A battle I could have never imagined existed. 7/24/12

We MUST rise up and take our country back. 7/30/12

I am standing against a great evil. I will do it all by myself if I have to. 8/4/12

This is the part where I tell the Federal Government to go fuck 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

I’m starting the Revolution. I’m done waiting. 8/10/12

Sharpen up my axe; I’m here to sever heads. 8/13/12

The Revolution will come for me. Men will be at my door soon to pick me up to lead it. 8/14/12

The Revolution is here. And I will lead it. 8/14/12

#6, by the way, seems to be a lyric from a song called Bring Me Down by a band called Swollen Members. Several of these sound like rants a lot of us have had in moments of frustration.

Depending upon what happens next, #7 seems to be almost prescient. Men did indeed come to his door and pick him up. And in the process, they may have created a revolutionary leader if Raub decides to further his involvement in politics and the general public learns about what happened to him and turns against the increasingly oppressive tactics of US government.

The Chesterfield Police are trying to distance themselves from this by releasing a statement that blames the Federal government:

Quoted from Chesterfield Police statement on Brandon Raub:

In response to numerous media inquiries regarding Brandon J. Raub, Col. Thierry Dupuis has issued the following statement:

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. Raub was placed in handcuffs after he resisted officers’ attempts to take him into custody. Raub was evaluated by a Chesterfield mental health official, who determined that he should be held under a temporary detention order and transported to John Randolph Medical Center for additional evaluation. Raub was not arrested and he faces no criminal charges in Chesterfield. As this is not a criminal matter, Chesterfield police have no further comment.

The FBI is trying to blame it on the Chesterfield Police and Virginia law allowing people to be involuntarily detained in mental hospitals.

In reality, both the local police and the Federal government are responsible for their crimes against Brandon Raub.

What the government did to Brandon Raub is a clear violation of the First Amendment. He did nothing criminal, yet they wrongly incarcerated him under false pretenses by falsely alleging that he is crazy. He has no history of psychiatric care. Many of his Facebook postings are quotes from songs or others or are similar to postings by tens of thousands of others who are displeased with the US government’s trek towards totalitarianism. Raub’s confinement in a mental hospital for political dissent shows that the US government is today using the same tactics as Fascist and Communist governments such as Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union used to dominate their populations and crush all political opponents.

The government wants the public to wrongly believe that what they did to Brandon Raub was justifiable. One former soldier who served with Raub, reportedly one of the “go along, get along” sorts of US Marines who habitually backs the official line, has been quoted in mainstream media suggesting that what the government did was to protect Brandon Raub and implying that he has some kind of mental health problem. Other soldiers who know this former soldier speculate that these comments were made because he is a man who wants to distance himself from Raub as he is working in law enforcement.

Other Marines who served with Raub and remained in contact with him, including one of his commanding officers, paint a very different picture of Raub. Unlike the single Marine who hasn’t seen Raub in years who backs the government actions, others say that they are well aware of what PTSD and other mental health problems look like and Raub does not suffer any such conditions. Below is a program produced by the Oath Keepers, an organization of current and retired military and law enforcement officers who advocate for defending and protecting the US Constitution, featuring interviews with several soldiers who served with Raub and uniformly describe him as a mature person with a big heart who is brave and quite sane.

Marines Who Served With Brandon Raub Sound Off In His Defense

That video was posted while Raub was still incarcerated in a psychiatric hospital.

Oath Keepers also interviewed Brandon Raub’s mother, Cathleen Thomas.

Oathkeepers Interview Brandon Raub’s Mother Cathleen Thomas

In this interview, statements are made that the Department of Homeland Security has been advised to use local mental health services to counter “violent extremist rhetoric” just like what has just happened to Brandon Raub. As the interviewer says, the government doesn’t need to prosecute you for a crime, they can just call you insane and lock you up. If your family and friends don’t have the connections and resources to mount a defense, you will stay locked up because they don’t have to charge you with any crime and can manufacture “evidence” to show you are crazy to keep you locked up. The mental health system is now the means for the government to violate people’s due process rights.

On August 28, The Rutherford Institute posted an interview of Brandon Raub showing him talking about what happened to him. Raub does not appear to be unstable or crazy. He may overuse certain phrases such as “very specifically” when he is talking, but speech mannerisms regarding how he is trying to stick to facts does not indicate there is anything wrong with him.

John Whitehead Interviews Brandon Raub

One of his comments in this video is:

I’m pretty tough, so I roll with the punches. But it made me scared for my country. The idea that a man can be snatched off his property without being read his rights I think should be very alarming to all Americans.

Watch the video and judge for yourself if Raub seems crazy. In my view, he is not only quite sane but is also a lot less angry than many people would be if they had been wrongly tossed into a mental hospital because the government didn’t like their political speech.

Virginia Cop Block did a great job posting updates on this story on a timely basis and we’ve posted links to several of their articles below for those who want more information.

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