Brandon Raub, the former Marine taken into custody after federal agents questioned him about Facebook posts critical of the government, has been transferred to a Veterans Administration (VA) psychiatric ward on the other side of the Virginia.
The Rutherford Institute, Raub's legal council, released this statement: "Special Justice Walter Douglass Stokes for the General District Court for the City of Hopewell, Va., has denied an emergency motion filed ... to stop ... Raub from being forcibly transferred to a psychiatric facility more than three hours away from his family, friends and legal team."
Raub will be moved from John Randolph Psychiatric Medical Hospital in Hopewell to the Veterans Hospital in Salem despite that fact that there is a compatible VA hospital in Richmond, about eight miles from Raub's home.
On August 16 authorities from the FBI, Secret Service, and Chesterfield County PD visited Raub's home. They questioned him about his Facebook posts – which are critical of the official story regarding 9/11 and refer to "starting a revolution" – then handcuffed him and placed him in a Chesterfield PD squad car before taking him to John Randolph.
On August 20 Raub was sentenced up to 30 days’ further confinement in a VA psych ward and the judge signed an order to have him involuntarily admitted to the Veterans Hospital in Salem.
Afterwards Raub gave an interview in which he said he was being treated "very well" at John Randolph and hadn't been given any medication.
Raub – who served in Iraq and Afghanistan with the 1st Platoon, Charlie Co., 4th Combat Engineer Battalion – also said he found the situation "extremely ironic" because he was considering reenlisting in the Marine Corps.
The Rutherford Institute stated that Raub has been "detained against his will due to alleged concerns by government officials that his Facebook posts are controversial and 'terrorist in nature'' and are arguing that "the detainment order was procedurally improper, the result of an unlawful detention, and was based entirely on statements made by Raub that constitute protected free speech under the First Amendment."
Supporters argue that some of the more violent Facebook posts by Raub – such as "Sharpen up my axe; I'm here to sever heads." – are lyrics from rap songs.
John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute, said: “This is not how justice in America is supposed to work—with Americans being arrested for doing nothing more than exercising their First Amendment rights, forced to undergo psychological evaluations, detained against their will and isolated from their family, friends and attorneys. This is a scary new chapter in our history.”
SEE ALSO: Former Marine Brandon Raub Sentenced To Up To 30 Days In Psych Ward Over Facebook Posts >
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