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The case of Brandom Raub has all of the trappings of the FBI overstepping its authorities and acting impulsively. Raub’s detainment may be the first publicized detention under the un-constitutional National Defense Authorization Act. The NDAA allowed for the scrapping of your constitutional rights and was quickly passed by your elected officials in Congress and signed by President Obama.
On August 16th, Raub was “arrested” after government agents swarmed his residence as if he was a terrorist mastermind with blood on his hands. His crime? Well apparently, since he has been detained without charge, there is none. However, government statements make it clear that Raub’s exercise of his First Amendment rights led to him being labeled with the now all encompassing term “terrorist.” Apparently, Raub’s “crime” was posting statements on Facebook that criticized the government and its actions. Raub is currently being held without charge and against his will for psychological evaluation.
Examining the situation admittedly from what media releases are available, there are numerous disturbing issues at hand. First, the government conducting unwarranted domestic surveillance of the internet is not new, but still just as abrasive to American ideas of liberty and at the least challenges the present validity of Fourth Amendment protections in today’s America.
Second, Raub appears to have not engaged in any illegal “acts” and instead was swept up in an on-going federal pogrom of intimidation to eliminate all government dissent. This sends a chilling message about the current status of Americans’ First Amendment rights and is something you would expect to see in Soviet Russia vice the U.S.
Third Raub was taken and detained against his will without charge. Although, government agents are stating he wasn’t “arrested,” one must wonder what then was the purpose. Is the government now allowed to send armed SWAT teams into the homes of anyone that doesn’t openly bow to government edicts and declare them insane and psychologically unfit? This scary pattern follows previous LMS reporting on how the government is now using mental health professionals of its choosing to condemn, disarm, and lock away lawful dissidents. LMS specifically highlighted this action against veterans suffering from PTSD and how the Veteran’s Administration secretly directed care providers to use the police to disarm them. This is an extremely slippery slope and should be challenged immediately and broadly in court. What we are dealing with is a subversion of due process and establishing a parallel prosecution by highly subjective opinions of government hired social workers. Using someone’s “protected” speech and views to condemn them as a terrorist and then detaining them indefinitely without charge is truly chilling.
The idea that a government psychologist can condemn one for their views without due process is abhorrent to American liberties. As bad, is how loosely the still undefined definition of terrorism is being secretly interpreted and used by the government. According to the Senate Intelligence Committee, the American public would be outraged if they knew how it was actually being employed and goes far beyond anything a healthy nation should consider constitutional. LMS has warned for over a decade how the government would use the overly broad definition of terrorism to eventually encompass anyone that challenged the legitimacy of even the most illegal of government activities. Post 9/11, “terrorist” seemed fine to throw around because it was taken to mean Al Qaeda Islamic extremists. Since then, this term has been perverted by the Department of Homeland Security and political leaders to the point it is being applied to gun owning veterans returning from combat or anyone that doesn’t support tax increases.
If the above doesn’t evoke nausea, you need to sit down and really consider what is going on in our great nation. How long will it be before something you believe in, cherish, hold dear, or seek to change is deemed hostile to the government? You may indeed be law-abiding or not speak without prior government approval, but that isn’t enough. Whether a Republican, Democrat, Independent, it doesn’t matter. Soon enough, if this trend is not arrested and held to legal account, you too may be rounded up in the night by the Gestapo and indefinitely detained as a terrorist. For you Republicans, imagine how your views will be interpreted by another four years of Obama? Yes, your conservative, less taxation, anti-abortion, pro-gun beliefs will brand you a terrorist. For you Democrats, now imagine if Romney is elected and what your world will be like. Try to “occupy” anything, protest a new nuclear plant, or rally against another needless war in the Middle East and you too will find yourself being indefinitely detained. Everyone must understand this is not about you “doing anything wrong.” It is about total state control. Americans, this is not a partisan issue. This is an American crisis that we must muster all of our combined efforts to reject.
Finally, the local, state, and federal law enforcement that took part in this raid need to police your own ranks, uphold the rights you are sworn to protect, and speak out. Shame on you for “just doing your job.” You have a sworn duty and trust to protect freedoms, liberties, and uphold the Constitution not destroy them. Sometimes that means people we may not like or agree with walk free, but the alternative is utterly repulsive. Your allegiance is not to the department or to this government, it is to the people. Refuse to handle these bogus investigations and illegal detainments. You too are not immune to this trend. You, your family, your neighbors, your friends, and your nation will all suffer from your failure to resist the continuously expanding powers of the state. Please respect the legal framework that made this country free.
Everyone needs to do everything they can, whether as a cop, a judge, a lawyer, a voter, a news reporter, or even a student. If you are wealthy, pay for his legal defense. If you are a lawyer, pitch in pro bono for the legal defense. If you are in news, make it the front page headline. We must loudly protest this and demand Raub’s immediate freedom. That is not enough though, Americans must bring legal suit against those that allowed this and file motions to ensure the rule of Constitutional law is upheld. Lawmakers that don’t push to hold government agencies accountable and protect our rights must be removed from office at the ballot box and if the Democrats and Republicans don’t get on board, voters need to leave them en mass and vote for an Independent party candidate like Gary Johnson. Virginians should also be writing Ken Cuccinelli, their state attorney general and demanding that this never be allowed to happen on the Commonwealth’s soil again. We can not survive long as a free nation if we silently accept these acts. You must accept individual responsibility and take action now, while you still can.
Zero Hedge nails it and breaks down the bogus use of psych screening for government agendas.
A statement from Raub’s apparent legal representation:
