TRI In The News

Marine Vet to Sue Over Arrest for Facebook Posts

From The Washington Times 24/7

Original article available here

The former Marine who was forcibly placed in a psychiatric ward by government officials who didn’t like his Facebook postings will sue for unlawful arrest, according to his attorneys.

“We are definitely going to move forward with a lawsuit,” said Nisha Whitehead, assistant to the president at the Rutherford Institute, the nonprofit civil rights firm defending Brandon Raub.

Mr. Raub, 26, a decorated former Marine who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, was arrested at his Richmond, Va., home Aug. 16 for anti-government statements and song lyrics posted on his private Facebook page. Secret Service, FBI and Chesterfield County police transported him to John Randolph Medical Facility in Hopewell, Va., for a psychiatric evaluation. Over the objections of attorney and Rutherford Institute President John Whitehead, Mr. Raub was then transferred to the VA Hospital in Salem, Va.

Mr. Raub won his freedom on Aug. 23 when Circuit Court Judge Allan Sharrett found his forced detention “so devoid of any factual allegations that it could not be reasonably expected to give rise to a case or controversy.”

The suit Mr. Raub is now filing is a civil complaint targeting all the government officials involved in both his arrest and detention, according to a written statement from the Rutherford Institute.

“Brandon Raub’s case exposed the seedy underbelly of a governmental system that seems to be targeting Americans, especially military veterans, for expressing their discontent over America’s rapid transition to a police state,” said Mr. Whitehead, in a written statement. “As we are learning, Brandon Raub is not the first veteran to be targeted for speaking out against the government, detained against his will. … Hopefully, by holding officials accountable, we can ensure that Brandon is the last.”