Psychiatric evaluations can legally be ordered for with much less demonstrable cause for concern. Here is an example of what most people would probably agree is an abuse of this power. A kid brought a knife to school.
Authorities are concerned about school violence, so they take no chances. A clearly delusional person who thinks he has a license to kill and is equipped with an assortment of weapons, a visibly bloody chainsaw, restraint devices, and a bullet-proof vest is a much more obvious example of someone who might “reasonably believed to pose a threat to himself or others,” which is the standard.
Here’s another example where it’s difficult to say exactly why officers felt the deranged fellow might harm someone:
Here’s a man who had an involuntary psych evaluation (and had his legally-owned weapons seized) when someone reported that he might be suicidal:
All federal law enforcement officers (including U.S. border security) can order someone held for psychiatric evaluation at their discretion if they have reason to believe they might harm themselves or someone else.
It’s a common sense thing. The above examples aren’t exactly strong arguments for this power, but instances where it’s sensibly applied aren’t as newsworthy. But they illustrate that it was well within the power of U.S. Border Security to exercise their discretion to order a psychiatric evalution in this case.
This was exactly the sort of situation that the laws that authorize these powers were designed for.
It’s commonsensical that someone who sincerely believes that they are an NSA agent, a U.S. Marine, a super-sniper assassin, or whatever, that they have a license to kill – and their delusion manifests in such a way that they present wearing combat armour, carrying a bloody chainsaw, and a bag of lethal implements is someone who might reasonably be considered a threat. If they’re confused about who they are, they might easily be confused about who the guy behind the counter at the convenience store is. Or anyone else.
When situations like this result in the hospitalization of an afflicted person, they’re not news. It’s just the system working. When people use this option on a middle-schooler with a pen-knife, it’s something to talk about. When they neglect to use it on a bloody chainsaw-wielding psychotic, well, that’s something to talk about to. Nobody talks when things go the way they’re supposed to.
As has been mentioned several times, he provided false information to Border Security, and misrepresented himself as a member of the armed forces. It’s been argued that it doesn’t make sense to charge him with that if you know he’s delusional, but that doesn’t follow. The law is the law. If the aim is public safety, this would be a perfectly valid reason to take him into custody and have a better look at him.