It happens in China routinely. It frequently happened in the old Soviet Union. Undoubtedly in North Korea, although generally there\u2019s no one around to witness it. But in the United States? It happens here, too, apparently.<\/p>\n
A lawsuit has been filed by officials with the Rutherford Institute on behalf of a Marine who was jailed and held for the comments he made on Facebook \u2013 comments that expressed a dissatisfaction with the present direction of the U.S. government.<\/p>\n
According to officials at Rutherford, the civil rights action names as defendants members of law enforcement and the government who were involved in last year\u2019s episode where Marine veteran Brandon Raub, 27, was arrested by a swarm of FBI and Secret Service and forcibly detained in a psychiatric ward for a week.<\/p>\n
His crime was posting controversial song lyrics and political views on Facebook, the institute reported.<\/p>\n
In one of his postings, he cited the evil in the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe United States was meant to lead the charge against injustice, but through our example not our force. People do not respond to having liberty and freedom forced on them,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n
He was released later when a judge stepped in and concluded the prosecution\u2019s case against Raub was \u201cso devoid of any factual allegations that it could not be reasonably expected to give rise to a case or controversy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The lawsuit asks for damages for Raub for the attack he endured. It was filed in U.S. District Court in Richmond, Va., and claims Raub\u2019s seizure and detention were part of a plan executed by the Obama administration called \u201cOperation Vigilant Eagle.\u201d<\/p>\n
That, the institute explains, was a federal program to do surveillance on military veterans who express views critical of the government.<\/p>\n