The case of veteran Marine Brandon Raub exemplifies a government turning on its people.
Agents of the federal government under the FBI program "Operation Vigilant Eagle" not only surveilled Raub's Facebook postings, but went to his home, arrested him without probable cause, jailed him, temporarily placed him in a mental hospital then transported him to a veterans' facility for the mentally ill.From August 16, 2012 to August 23, 2012, Raub was at the mercy of federal "vigilantes" until a circuit court judge released him because an August 20 petition claiming that Raub was mentally ill was "so devoid of factual allegations that it could not reasonably be expected to give rise to a case or controversy."
Tuesday, Raub filed a federal suit in U.S. District Court for the eastern District of Virginia, arguing he was illegally detained as part of an effort to suppress his freedom of speech. The complaint, Raub v. Bowen, et al, lists 15 defendants, including members of the Chesterfield Police Department and the county's Community Services Board.
From the case file linked on the Rutherford Institute website:
This case arises out of the retaliatory and unlawful seizure and detention of Brandon Raub ("Raub") a citizen of the United States and a military veteran , who was seized, taken from his home, and detained without probable cause and in violation of the rights guaranteed to him by the law of Virginia and by the Fourth, Fifth and/or Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution.
Additionally, upon information and belief, it is alleged that the baseless incarceration of Raub upon the pretext that he was mentally unstable was the result of systematic surveillance of military veterans by the government and its attempt to suppress free speech activities critical of the government's war efforts by veterans, including expression engaged in by Raub.
If law enforcement and mental health employees can justify incarcerating Raub against his will, why not scoop up all the rappers, occupiers, and activists who have said much stronger, very public violent statements?
Funny how the Black Panthers audio recording of killing cracker babies and taking whites out to the streets and beating them to death gets a pass from the FBI, but a veteran Marine literally gets pulled from his home for criticizing the government on his Facebook page.
Incidentally, Raub's "detention" happened under the same government that celebrated the revolutionary overthrow of Egypt's president Mubarak -- thanks in part to social media including Facebook!
Read more M. Catharine Evans at Potter Williams Report.