After having been arrested and detained in a mental hospital last year in Virginia, Marine Brandon Raub is suing the federal officials involved. World Net Daily is reporting today the lawsuit today, filed on Raub's behalf by the Rutherford Institute. The lawsuit claims Raub was arrested and detained as part of an Obama administration plan called “Operation Vigilant Eagle.” This program, the story cites the Rutherford Institute as explaining, “was a federal program to do surveillance on military veterans who express views critical of the government.”

The WND story reports, “According to officials at Rutherford, the civil rights action names as defendants members of law enforcement and the government who were involved in last year’s episode where Marine veteran Brandon Raub, 27, was arrested by a swarm of FBI and Secret Service and forcibly detained in a psychiatric ward for a week.”

Joe Newby of Examiner.com reported on the arrest and detaining of Brandon Raub by federal officials last August. The Facebook page comments written by Raub during last year were still online at the time and consisted mostly of commentaries criticizing the federal government, some song lyrics, and other posts about “revolution” that were part of a fantasy role-playing game Raub and others apparently participated in by posting messages in the game on Facebook. Nothing in any of the post indicated that Raub posed any threat to national security or intended to engage in any violent acts in real life.

Federal officials arrested Raub and then had him detained for a week in the psychiatric ward of the John Randolph Medical Center in Hopewell, Virginia. Federal officials attempted to have Raub declared “mentally ill” and be involuntarily committed for the purpose of silencing his criticism of the government, according to attorneys for the Rutherford Institute. They also cited Raub's rights under the First and Fourth Amendments being violated by the arrest and detainment.

The Rutherford Institute has stated, on this case, that, “Since coming to Raub’s defense, The Rutherford Institute has been contacted by military veterans across the country recounting similar incidents. In filing a civil suit against government officials, Rutherford Institute attorneys plan to take issue with the manner in which Virginia’s civil commitment statutes are being used to silence individuals engaged in lawfully exercising their free speech rights.”

The story reports the Rutherford Institute reporting arrests like that done to Raub are more common than reported and have happened in many other instances. The WND story reports, “Brandon Raub’s case exposed the seedy underbelly of a governmental system that is targeting military veterans for expressing their discontent over America’s rapid transition to a police state,” said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute.”

Raub had initially been ordered detain for up to 30 days for a psychological evaluation, but on appeal, Circuit Court Judge Allen Sharrett ruled there was no evidence of a case from the government and ordered Raub released.

WND reports, “The 14-page complaint describes Raub’s “baseless incarceration” and said it violated his free speech, due process and other rights. The complaint claims the arrest was a “pretext” that was orchestrated to “silence Raub’s speech critical of the government by subjecting him to involuntary commitment.”

With the reporting of the numerous scandals lately, including targeting of Tea Party and other conservative groups by the IRS and harassment of conservative-owned small businesses by the EPA and the Department of Justice, some critics of the Obama administration are seeing a clear pattern of systematic abuse of government authority to target and harass political opposition to the current administration as well as those supporting candidates for office who are critics of the Obama administration.

REST OF THE SCAM