Civil Liberties

Brandon Raub Sues Over Illegal Detention

He was nabbed for criticizing the government

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A Marine Corps veteran is arguing in federal court that basic constitutional guarantees were violated when Chesterfield County police, federal agents and mental health workers combined to have him involuntarily committed last summer.

Brandon J. Raub, now 27, argues in a 14-page complaint filed Wednesday by lawyers working with the Charlottesville-based Rutherford Institute that his "baseless incarceration" violated his right to free speech, right to due process, and freedom from illegal searches and seizure.

Raub apparently drew the attention of federal agents through various Facebook postings in which he criticized the government, lost freedoms, the Federal Reserve and the nature of the United States' military presence overseas.