The Internet has been up in arms over the detention of former Marine and libertarian activist Brandon Raub. His supporters have been claiming that he has been detained because of the fact he criticized the government and his support for 9/11 “Truth” and other conspiracy theories, which threatens the First Amendment. While the FBI and local police claim that he had posted some threatening posts on his Facebook page and they went and interviewed him as is standard operating procedure. A judge has ordered Mr. Raub held under psychiatric evaluation for the next 30 days in a mental hospital. The fact of the matter is, Mr. Raub is no martyr but instead he is a fool whose posts on Facebook certainly can be construed as calling for violence.

Mr. Raub, like many other wannabe political activists do, use their Facebook pages for political activism. His Facebook wall was full of criticisms of the United States government, the “New World Order”, and the promotion of various conspiracy theories. His profile picture is him standing shirtless in front of a US Marine Corps flag while brandishing a shotgun.

The posts themselves usually consisted of things like one that was posted on August 13:

Sharpen up my axe; I’m here to sever heads.

Here’s another one posted on August 12 about alleged chemtrails:

The people responsible for posioning the America people from the sky will be held accountable. And there is going to be justice.

Here’s one on August 10 calling upon the military to rise up against the government over the issue of 9/11 “Truth”:

Dear Friends in the Military,

The time for choosing has come. Will you continue to ignore the obvious lie of 911 or will you stand and fight for your people?

He also posted this comment on his profile picture on August 12.

This is my going to war profile pic.

There are many other comments along these lines all over his wall. Comments calling for a violent revolution, music videos with violent lyrics posted along with commentary on public figures, and conspiracy theory ramblings. Mr. Raub is not a free speech martyr, but an idiot who has called for violence publicly.

Call me a statist shill, a neo-con, a sheep, or whatever but I think the authorities have acted appropriately in this case, especially in light of the recent mass shootings in Wisconsin and Colorado. It is not a crime to believe in conspiracy theories, no matter how absurd they are, or to criticize your government. Nor should it ever be. The problem is that Mr. Raub has advocated violence and/or has demonstrated that he was willing to consider it. This is not a free speech issue nor is this an issue about the indefinite detention provisions in the NDAA. This is not the Soviet Union or any other totalitarian state declaring a political opponent mentally ill just to silence them. This is a guy who is being held for psychological examination by a local government for advocating violence. Given the content of his Facebook wall, it appears necessary to do so to protect the general public.

Finally, I ask everyone to do their own research on this issue. Please follow the link to Mr. Raub’s wall and read what he posted for yourself. Don’t just take the commentary of those you follow on Twitter and/or Facebook as gospel. Research this story for yourself, like I have.