Posted at the Lew Rockwell blog:
Brandon Raub Ordered Released By Circuit Judge
In a stinging rebuke to the FBI, the Secret Service, and other self-appointed Thought Police, Hopewell Circuit Judge W. Allan Sharrett ordered the immediate release of Brandon Raub, whom Virginia authorities had imprisoned last week because of anti-government comments that he had posted on the Internet.
Judge Sharrett found “that a document ordering Raub’s transfer this week from a Hopewell hospital to the Salem VA Medical Center was faulty and “so devoid of any factual allegations that it could not be reasonably expected to give rise to a case or controversy.”
Special thanks and congratulations are in order for the vital role played by the Rutherford Institute, which immediately came to Raub’s defense and exposed the scandalous series of illegal actions on the part of Virginia officials that railroaded Mr. Raub into a psychiatric jail for a thirty-day term without being charged of any crime.
Readers should note that every level of government, from the federal to the local police in Chesterfield County, here in Virginia, were complicit in this illegal arrest and incaceration. No one at any level of government stepped forward to defend Mr. Raub’s First Amendment rights until the Rutherford Institute initiated legal action in his defense and took the matter to court. That includes Virginia Republicans Rep. Bob Goodlatte and former Senator and current Senate candidate George Allen, both of whom did not respond to requests I placed with their respective offices.
This should be a lesson — and a warning — for us all
Comment:
I’ve been thinking this case is very strange (see my comments under my post about the Sikh temple shootings) and I’ve held my tongue about it for the same reason.
This sudden release confirms my feeling. There’s something more going on here and I wouldn’t be surprised if this was not just a misstep on the government’s part but a staged arrest to let the blogosphere know what could be in store for it if it steps out of line. I think it is especially aimed at homecoming vets who might be inclined to lead any “revolutions” or “sharpen their axes” for the generals, as Raub put it on his Facebook page. I don’t think Raub is what he seems to be.
It’s a kind of intimidation, just as the massive militarization and purchases of arms by the DHS is intimidation. The government could also be worrying about a possible insurrection from the vets, who would make credible foes that could unite the country behind them.
More on this to come…