TRI In The News

Attorneys Appeal Psychiatric Detention of VA Vet who Posted Radical Anti-Government Messages

From The Washington Post

Original article available here

RICHMOND, Va. — Lawyers for a former Marine detained for psychiatric evaluation in Virginia after posting strident anti-government messages on Facebook are fighting the government’s actions in court.

Brandon Raub was taken into custody last week after Chesterfield County police and federal authorities questioned him about his Facebook posts. Raub was held over the weekend at a Hopewell hospital. He was not charged with any crime.

After a hearing Monday, a judge ordered that he be detained for an additional month.

The Rutherford Institute, a civil liberties group representing Raub, said Wednesday it has appealed the 26-year-old ex-Marine’s detention in one court. The organization also filed a motion elsewhere challenging a decision to transfer Raub from the Hopewell hospital to a Veterans Administration facility in Salem. A hearing on that is scheduled Thursday.