UPDATE: Brandon Raub released, on his way home
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 Allan Sharrett 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 the government had no grounds to hold Raub.
Beck said the judge is in the process of writing an order for Raub's release. He is has been released from the hospital in Salem, Virginia Thursday afternoon and is headed home to Chesterfield.
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.
COMPLETE COVERAGE: Chesterfield Marine veteran detained over Facebook posts
- 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
