Having read his posts for myself and in light of recent acts of violence committed by right wing nutcases in the United States, I am not surprised at his being taken into custody. What I am surprised about are all the comments posted in the news reports where people are accusing the government of stifling free speech.
I decided to post this response for all the people out there crying into their beers over poor, persecuted patriot Brandon Raub. Here are some of his Facebook posts and my responses to them:
What America is supposed to be rising from isn't specified. But, it's not a particularly threatening statement.
Sounds like he's trying to make-up his mind about something, like some sort of conflict that he hasn't quite decided if he wants to be a participant in or not. He also seems to want someone to come pick him up so they can get some sort of revolution underway. Exactly what this revolution will look like - violent or not - is left ambiguous.
Exactly what is meant by the above statements is, again, not specified. It could be either nonviolent (voting against incumbents in office, speaking-out, protests, etc) or violent.
Exactly what this "great evil" is and what he plans to do (all by himself, if needed) isn't specified. But, he's sounding to me like he has some sort of persecution complex going-on.
A "day of reckoning" sounds rather ominous. But, he has specified that the US government is committing evil and this could be the "great evil" he mentioned earlier.
I'm hoping that what he means by "how crazy it looks" refers to his Facebook posts and his "courage" refers to his willingness to post these things in a public forum viewable to all. How it's supposed to make the world beautiful again is left to the imagination, I guess.
Raub offers no evidence that such things occur. We are apparently supposed to take his word for it. Notice how a comment was left of this picture about a "day of reckoning:.
This can be considered a threat, telling the generals in our military that he is "coming for them". If this apparent threat isn't physical, what else could he mean? Coming for them to do...what?
I can imagine someone at an FBI or Secret Service office beginning to get nervous. Rhetoric like this can sometimes precede an act of violence. Add to that his call to members of our Armed Forces to make their decision whether or not to join him. Someone like this can be perceived as a self-appointed leader of disaffected veterans.
It isn't obvious as whether or not the "new beginning" is for Raub himself or for the entire country.
We're getting into dangerous territory here. Raub is alleging that the US government has committed malicious acts against its own citizens and is planning more of them. It can be assumed that the "great evil" he mentioned earlier is actually the United States government. Notice again how children are mentioned. Few things get people more ready to react with violence than if they think their children are in danger.
Note to Brandon Raub: I think you meant "cavalry", not "calvary". Cavalry are mounted soldiers; Calvary is where Jesus was crucified.
Raub is repeating the conspiracy theory that aircraft contrails are really some sort of government conspiracy to poison the population. Actually, they're caused by water condensation as aircraft fly at high altitudes. I am wondering what kind of "justice" Raub is planning against those responsible for these nonexistent attacks.
Raub had earlier stated that he was starting the revolution himself and now he's talking about a civil war, though he isn't stating if they are one and the same thing. I am stunned by his lack of knowledge regarding exactly what a civil war really entails. Any hypothetical future civil war in the United States would be like the last one: Americans fighting Americans. So, one group of Americans would be the winners while the other group of Americans would be the losers. That's what a "civil war" is!
Interesting quotes and they both show a willingness to physically die fighting for what you believe is right. Is Raub anticipating that he could end-up becoming a casualty of his self-started "revolution"?
If I were one of the generals Raub said he was "coming for" or the fictitious cabal causing aircraft contrails, I'd be a bit nervous seeing this post.
I don't honestly believe that Raub thought that people were coming to his house to take him away to lead the "revolution". While some of his beliefs may be out there on the fringe, I don't think that he was stupid enough to be unaware of the possibility that he could have attracted the attention of federal and state law enforcement with his Facebook posts and that they might intend to take him in for questioning.
I'm going to speculate and state that I suspect that he knew that his being taken into custody was coming soon and that he could subsequently use it as a platform to make his case in the public forum of a courtroom where all of his statements would become part of the public record and could even be carried in the national media. The people he mentioned in his July 24th post that he wanted to come pick him up were government agents that he anticipated would be sent to arrest him. See?
I'm not the only person who thinks this way. Youtube user jonah70757 posted a video on his channel about Raub's arrest and said this in the video description box
In This vid I take a look at Brandon Raib's Facebook page. Based on the comments he made and the profile it created it is absolutely not a surprise that the Authorities had him picked up, arrested, and sent for psych-eval. My take on this situation; Brandon Raub purposely created this profile and knew full well that they would pick him up. I believe that this was a strategy to engage the Government and to flush out their policies and applications of laws such as the NDAA and new legal doctrine such as pre-crime.
The Authorities bit hook line and sinker and now Brandon Raub has been catapaulted into full public view and consciousness. Afterall who ever heard of an ex-marine named Brandon J Raub before this arrest? It appears that he has created a firestorm to highlight threats against individual liberties and Constitutional protections and to raise the awareness level of the threats lurking behind the thin veneer of reduced rights for increased security and safety. We know the Benjamin Franklin quote, "Those who sacrifice liberty for security and safety deserve neither". I think this Franklin quote is very appropriate for the times America finds itself as a Nation and a people.
I've noticed that a lot of conspiracy theorists say that "someone" wants them dead, either the government or some secretive group of Illuminati insiders. Alex Jones and Jesse Ventura are two examples of this phenomenon and I suspect that Raub may harbor similar thoughts. He may envision himself as a Christ-like figure who antagonizes those he considers The Enemy and leaves himself open for arrest and possible execution. But, the government doesn't execute people for believing in conspiracies or Alex Jones would have disappeared a long time ago.
So, what will be the eventual fate of Brandon J Raub? Well, I think that after the government agents and police are done asking him questions and the psychiatrists are satisfied that he has all his marbles, they'll let him go free. Afterwards, he'll likely be a guest on the Alex Jones Show and maybe even get on TV with Jesse Ventura. He may even get his own show somewhere, write a few books and become something of a celebrity among conspiracy theorists around the country. He posted this on his Facebook page back in November 2011 and the link is already being circulated, so he's off to a good start. I doubt if he'll be as big as Alex or Jesse, but I don't think he'll be hurting for money in the future.
Don't worry about Brandon. He'll be fine. His future is assured and all he had to do to get there is make a few posts on Facebook, spend a little time in the pokey and have a couple of sessions with the head-shrinkers.
By the way, why are so many reports of this story referring to Raub as a "retired Marine" when he hadn't served more than six years in the service? You don't retire until you've served 20 years or more. Is this some effort to make it look as if he had given more years of his life to the Marines than he really did?
On a final note, let me just say that it is my strong opinion that if a Muslim were to have made the exact same posts on their Facebook page and gotten arrested, there would have been no public outcry over that person's freedom of speech. I firmly believe that the exact same people now condemning the arrest of Brandon Raub would be applauding the arrest of a Muslim who made the same statements in public.
Duane Browning
