FBI and Secret Service detain Marine veteran Brandon Raub over Facebook posts
In August 2012, FBI agents, Secret Service agents, and Chesterfield County police questioned former U.S. Marine Brandon Raub at his Virginia home over song lyrics and political commentary he posted on Facebook, then committed him to a psychiatric facility under an emergency custody order. A circuit judge ordered him released a week later, ruling the petition contained no factual basis.
On August 16, 2012, federal agents and local police arrived at Brandon Raub's home in Chesterfield County, Virginia, to question him about Facebook posts that included political commentary, song lyrics, and references to a 'revolution.' Raub, a former Marine, was handcuffed without being charged and transported for psychiatric evaluation, then ordered held for up to 30 days under Virginia's emergency custody statute. The Rutherford Institute intervened on his behalf. On August 23, 2012, Circuit Judge W. Allan Sharrett ordered Raub immediately released, finding the government's petition 'so devoid of any factual allegations that it could not be reasonably expected to give rise to a case or controversy.' The case became a widely cited example of government response to political speech on social media.