Ex-Marine Held for Radical Facebook Posts

A former Marine in Virginia is being held for psychiatric evaluation after posting anti-government messages on Facebook. Brandon Raub, 26, was detained for making alleged threats, and questioned by the FBI and Secret Service after authorities received complaints about his posts, ABC reports. The postings on his public profile mainly involve 9/11 conspiracy theories and talk of a "revolution" that Raub says he has been chosen to lead. Other posts discussed at a court hearing were made in a private Facebook group.

Raub, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, was ordered to be detained for psychiatric evaluation for 30 days, angering supporters who say his First Amendment rights are being violated. The Rutherford Institute civil liberties group has taken up his case. An FBI spokeswoman says his posts were not being spied on. "We received quite a few complaints about what were perceived as threatening posts," she says. "Given the circumstances with the things that have gone on in the country with some of these mass shootings, it would be horrible for law enforcement not to pay attention to complaints." (More Facebook stories.)