August 20th, 2012

Oath Keepers to Rally in Support of Marine Veteran Brandon Raub, Victim of Soviet Style Pre-crime Detention

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MESSAGE FROM STEWART RHODES, FOUNDER OF OATH KEEPERS:

Oath Keepers is coming to the aid of this young Marine veteran and our rallying cry will be “CHARGE HIM, OR RELEASE HIM.”  We cannot allow  “mental illness” designations to be used as a weapon against political dissidents in America.    See the below article by Brandon Smith for the disturbing facts regarding the use of mental health detention against Virginia Marine veteran Brandon Raub because of his constitutionally protected free speech on his Facebook page.  As Brandon Smith illustrates, this is exactly what the Soviet Union did to dissidents who dared to criticize the communist regime – they were labeled “insane” and carted off to mental wards.  Now it has begun here in America.  This is a blatant circumvention of constitutional criminal due process which is every bit as dangerous as being designated an “unlawful combatant” under the NDAA and taken away to a military brig for detention without charges.  How is this any different?  Mental health detention can be used in exactly the same way. This is an incredibly dangerous crossing of a critical line in the sand – the politicization of the mental health system, using it as a weapon against dissidents to punish them for their constitutionally protected political speech.   This case is the camel’s nose under the tent, and we need to stomp on it HARD, right now. And we will.

Brandon Raub has very competent local legal counsel provided by the Rutherford Institute.If you would like to donate to his legal defense, go to https://www.rutherford.org/donate/and be sure to add a note that your donation is for the Raub case. Oath Keepers has offered to write an amicus brief if the Rutherford attorneys think it will help, but our primary goal is to compliment their legal efforts with as many boots on the ground as we can muster to go there in person and rally in outspoken support of this brother veteran. While the case is being tried in the legal courts, we will try it in the court of public opinion and bring as much public pressure to bear as possible. Last night, Oath Keepers leadership, including both national and Virginia Oath Keepers leaders, spoke with Attorney John Whitehead of the Rutherford Institute and also with Brandon Raub’s Mother, Cathleen Thomas. We will be coordinating closely both with his legal team and with his family to support Brandon in any way possible.

Last night I interviewed Cathleen Thomas about her son’s ordeal.   Also on the interview was Oath Keepers Eastern U.S. Vice President Rand Cardwell (a Marine Scout-sniper veteran).   You can listen to that interview here:

http://oathkeepers.org/oath/2012/08/20/former-marine-sergeant-victim-of-pre-crime-authoritarianism/