COMPLETE COVERAGE: Chesterfield Marine veteran detained over Facebook posts
HOPEWELL,
Va. (WTVR) – A Hopewell circuit court judge has ordered that a Marine
veteran detained over anti-government Facebook posts be released from a
psychiatric hospital.
CBS
6 News’ Catie Beck said the judge dismissed the case Thursday against
Brandon Raub. The judge said the original petition for Raub’s detention
contained no facts. In other words, there was no information on why Raub
was being held — and the judge deemed this violated
his civil liberties.
As a result, the judge ruled law enforcement has no grounds to hold Raub.
Beck
said the judge is in the process of writing an order for Raub’s
release. He is expected to be released from a the hospital in Salem,
Virginia Thursday afternoon.
The
decorated U.S. Marine veteran was questioned by FBI agents about his
Facebook postings and then hauled away from his Chesterfield County home
in handcuffs last Thursday.
CBS
6 checked his criminal history and found it to be clean. And Brandon
Raub’s mother told CBS 6 News’ Mark Holmberg that her son he had no
mental health history. [READ MORE: Mother of detained Marine vet says he’s a patriot, not a threat]
“He
never was violent or psychotic or anything like that,” Cathleen Thomas
told CBS 6. “There were just conversations we had back and forth, very
deep.”
BONUS: Full text, Brandon Raub’s proclamation: Take our Republic back
Cell
phone video shot by a friend that showed Raub being thrown to the
ground and then put into a police car has gone viral on Youtube. His
story, portrayed as a patriot whose free speech rights have been
violated, has shot across the country.
A
number of protestors gathered outside John Randolph Medical Center
Monday, where Raub was being detained. Earlier this week, a judge
approved a motion to transfer Raub to the Veterans Hospital in Salem.
The
Rutherford Institute, a Charlottesville-based civil liberties group
whose lawyers represented Raub, argued his arrest was was improper and
unlawful. However, federal agents contend that Facebook posts made by
Raub were “terrorist in nature.”
A
former Marine who served two tours in Afghanistan with Raub told CBS 6
News’ Catie Beck Monday that Raub is a courageous and patriotic young
man with showed no signs of posttraumatic stress disorder. Additionally,
the man said he believes a mental evaluation would find Raub sane — and
not someone who is capable of a terroristic threat.
Check
back with WTVR.com for the latest updates on this developing story.
Catie Beck will also have LIVE reports on CBS 6 News starting at 5
p.m.
- Brandon Raub to be transferred to Salem psych ward
- Full text, Brandon Raub’s proclamation: Take our Republic back
- Mother of detained Marine vet says he’s a patriot, not a threat
- Statement from attorneys on Brandon Raub detention
- Chesterfield police: Raub resisted officers, was taken for evaluation
- Chesterfield Marine veteran to remain detained over Facebook posts
- Chesterfield man, Marine veteran, detained over Facebook posts
