Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
Supporters of a former Marine who was forced into psychiatric care for posting anti-government messages on Facebook say authorities are violating his First Amendment rights, the Washington Post reports.
Brandon J. Raub, 26, has been in custody since Thursday after the FBI, Secret Service and local police became alarmed by ominous Facebook posts, including one that read, “Sharpen my axe; I’m here to sever heads,” the Washington Post reported.
Raub, who has not been charged with a crime, was ordered detained for another month, according to Charlottesville-based civil liberties group, the Rutherford Institute.
“For government officials to not only arrest Brandon Raub for doing nothing more than exercising his First Amendment rights but to actually force him to undergo psychological evaluations and detain him against his will goes against every constitutional principle this country was founded upon,” Rutherford Executive Director John Whitehead told the Post. “This should be a wake-up call to Americans that the police state is here.”
Raub’s mother, Cathleen Thomas, said her son is “a staunch patriot.”
