Following his acquittal Monday for charges that he violated the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, Mark Houck says he plans to launch action against the FBI and other Biden administration officials for their “reckless” violations of his rights. Houck made the announcement on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast Tuesday.
Houck’s ordeal began when he and his 12-year-old son were accosted by abortion “escort” Bruce Love during a legal protest outside an abortion clinic in Philadelphia on October 13, 2021. Love had repeatedly verbally abused Houck’s young son and Houck had asked him to stop. Finally Houck responded by pushing Love away from his son to end the abuse.
Love attempted to press charges, but the Philadelphia police declined to make an arrest, citing a lack of evidence that a crime had been committed. Love pressed the matter with a criminal complaint that was later dismissed by a Pennsylvania court.
Enter — from stage left — the Biden DOJ.
As Rebecca Terrell reported in the October 31, 2022 print edition of The New American, on Friday, September 23, 2022,
Around two dozen FBI agents swarmed Houck’s property in rural Kintnersville, Pennsylvania, at 7:00 a.m. “Having quickly surrounded the house with rifles in firing position, ‘they started pounding on the door and yelling for us to open it,’” Houck’s wife, Ryan-Marie, told LifeSiteNews.
After pleading with the agents to calm down for the sake of his seven young children who were all present and crying, Houck opened the door. Ryan-Marie recalls “they had big, huge rifles pointed at Mark and pointed at me and kind of pointed throughout the house.”
“The kids were all just screaming. It was all just very scary and traumatic,” Ryan-Marie told the pro-life news outlet. She remembers standing with her husband on the ground floor, while agents ordered the children to stay at the top of the stairs where they had gathered in terror, watching the scene unfold.
As The New American reported Tuesday, once a federal jury heard the facts of the case, they acquitted Houck of all charges Monday. The reason for the acquittal is simple: Just as Philadelphia police and a Pennsylvania court had already seen, there was no real evidence that Houck had violated the FACE Act.
So, as Catholic News Agency (CNA) reports:
Mark Houck, the pro-life father of seven who was acquitted Monday in federal court of charges of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, said he is planning to sue the FBI and other authorities following his ordeal.
On a Jan. 31 episode of the podcast “War Room,” the host, Steve Bannon, asked Houck: “Do you intend to press charges for prosecutorial abuse? And are you going to press charges against the FBI agents and the state troopers?”
“We most definitely will and we will be seeking counsel on that,” Houck responded.
Though Houck’s supporters had called for legal action immediately after his acquittal was announced, his appearance on Bannon’s “War Room” was the first time Houck himself had addressed the subject. It was also the first time he went into any detail on his arrest. Again, from CNA:
Houck said that a local criminal complaint against him in Philadelphia Municipal Court “went nowhere” and added that he was soon notified that he was the target of a grand jury investigation.
He said his lawyers at the time said that they would peacefully bring Houck in for questioning from authorities if needed.
“The next thing I know, I had 20-plus federal agents and state troopers banging on my door at 6:45 in the morning on Sept. 23, Friday morning,” he said.
Houck said he was awake, but his wife and kids were asleep. He said the FBI “repeatedly” rang the doorbell and banged on the door saying “open up.”
Houck said that the authorities did not identify themselves while banging on the door.
He described the FBI’s tactics as “recklessness” and an “act of terror.”
Houck said he asked them to identify themselves before he opened the door and they did so. He told Bannon, “I replied, ‘Okay, I’m gonna open the door. Stay calm. I have seven babies in here,’ which were stirring at the time, but I didn’t know they were awake.” He said he opened the door and showed his hands to the agents. “As I opened the door, I could not believe the circus scene that I saw.”
He said there were “at least 10, 15 marked and unmarked units right in front of me. Surrounding the side of my house, I have 100 yards to the street, cars lined all the way up to the street, long guns pointed at me, heavily armored vests, ballistic helmets, ballistic shields, a battering ram.”
He said that when his wife asked to see a warrant, FBI agents responded, “We’re taking him with or without a warrant.”
The FBI disagrees with Houck’s account. In a statement issued in September 2022, the FBI said there were “inaccurate claims being made regarding the arrest of Mark Houck”:
No SWAT Team or SWAT operators were involved. FBI agents knocked on Mr. Houck’s front door, identified themselves as FBI agents, and asked him to exit the residence. He did so and was taken into custody without incident pursuant to an indictment.
Given that Houck will be taking legal action, the FBI’s statement and actions will be under close scrutiny. Houck’s wife and children, who witnessed the events, will likely be called to testify. That and other evidence may place the FBI, DOJ, and other Biden officials in an embarrassing situation. The FBI has already come under fire in recent months for acting as the enforcement arm of leftism for spying on and threatening concerned parents who questioned the policies of “woke” school boards across the nation. This additional scrutiny will almost certainly further tarnish the agency’s already bad reputation.
