Armed with a criminal jury’s acquittal that he violated federal abortion protest law, a Pennsylvania pro-life activist is now suing President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice for excessive force and “retaliatory” prosecution.
He seeks $1.1 million in damages, according to the Media Research Center, or MRC.
Mark Houck, an anti-abortion protester, was acquitted in federal court in January on two counts of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances, or FACE, Act, as the Tampa Free Press has reported.
Under the FACE Act, it is a federal crime to use force with the intent to injure, intimidate, and interfere with anyone because that person is a provider of reproductive health care.
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The feds accused Houck of violating the FACE Act by shoving pro-abortion activist Bruce Love to the ground outside a clinic in October 2021. Love reportedly became belligerent toward Houck and his 12-year-old son as they were praying outside a Planned Parenthood outlet and hurled “crude… inappropriate and disgusting” comments at the Houcks.
Houck noted that Love had been trained by Planned Parenthood and previously admonished for his aggression toward pro-life activists.
Love did not suffer any injuries in the incident, although he did file a criminal complaint. According to the MRC, state prosecutors dropped the charge against Houck after Love refused to show up in court.
But as it has done multiple times with pro-life activists, the Biden administration cracked down on Houck, sending a 30-agent FBI SWAT unit to arrest him.
The Media Research Center noted that Houck’s lawsuit says the agents arrived at his home in a pre-dawn raid and were “wielding battering rams, ballistic shields, helmets, armored vests, and long guns.”
Houck maintains the Justice Department did so after ignoring his lawyer’s offer to turn himself in.
“Government agents aimed rifles and handguns at Mr. Houck from his porch and from behind vehicles in his yard and driveway. They also aimed their weapons at Mrs. Houck,” the lawsuit says.
“The FBI further degraded Mr. Houck during the booking period. Despite his total cooperation, the officers forced him to walk in chains and handcuffs to the U.S. Marshal’s service. They used intimidation tactics throughout the booking process. As Mr. Houck was forced to shuffle along in his chains, the foot shackles dug into his ankles, leaving scrapes and cuts in his flesh.”
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Houck maintains that federal prosecutors presented “objectively false facts” as the case went on. They claimed he initiated the confrontation with Love and pushed him to intimidate him.
Security camera footage undermined and refuted the feds’ case.
In the lawsuit, Houck, a Catholic father of seven children, alleges that the ordeal with the FBI inflicted stress and emotional trauma on his family.
Because of the nature of his arrest, his wife has suffered three miscarriages and has now been diagnosed by her doctors as infertile, according to the lawsuit.
Houck’s children have also exhibited symptoms of trauma, including “severe sleep deprivation and nightmares,” MRC reported
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