Brandon Raub, who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, was involuntarily committed and moved to the Veterans Affairs hospital in Salem.
RICHMOND — A judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a Chesterfield County man who was detained in a psychiatric facility after posting anti-government messages online.
Brandon Raub’s lawsuit blamed county mental health worker Michael Campbell for his August 2012 detention. U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson ruled Friday that Campbell acted reasonably in recommending the Marine Corps veteran be held for evaluation.
Raub was detained after being questioned about Facebook posts that alluded to violence and spoke of a pending revolution. One said: “This is the start of you dying.” Another said: “Sharpen my axe; I’m here to sever heads.”
Raub claimed the weeklong detention violated the prohibition against unreasonable search and seizure as well as his free-speech rights.
Hudson scoffed at Raub’s assertion that officials had conspired to suppress dissident speech.
“Given the collective information presented to (the psychiatric evaluator) and the results of his interview with Raub, (the evaluator’s ) decision as a mental health evaluator to seek a temporary detention order was objectively reasonable, irrespective of Raub's political beliefs." Hudson wrote.
"Raub's assertion that Campbell, in league with the Chesterfield County Police Department and the FBI, was involved in a conspiracy to suppress dissident speech is unsupported by the evidence—and frankly, far-fetched."
