A well-known pro-life author and sidewalk counselor was arrested in front of his children after the Department of Justice (DOJ) ordered a SWAT raid on his house for alleged violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, according to a report from LifeSiteNews.
According to his wife, Ryan-Marie Houck, Mark Houck, a father of seven, drove two hours to Philadelphia every Wednesday to speak outside of abortion clinics for six to eight hours at a time.
The FACE violation charge was thrown out this summer, but was somehow picked up by the DOJ, she said.
Houck also described an incident in which her husband “shoved” a pro-abortion man away from his 12-year-old son after the man entered “the son’s personal space” and refused to stop hurling “crude… inappropriate and disgusting” comments at the Houcks.
The man did not sustain any injuries but did try to sue Houck, according to the outlet.
On Friday morning, Houck’s rural home was raided by 25 to 30 armed FBI agents, who pounded on the door and yelled at the family to open it, according to his wife.
Mark Houck pleaded with the FBI agents before opening the door, telling them “please, I’m going to open the door, but, please, my children are in the home. I have seven babies in the house.”
The agents continued to yell, and when the door was opened, they pointed their guns at the Houcks while instructing the children to go upstairs, according to Ryan-Marie. “The kids were all just screaming. It was all just very scary and traumatic,” she said.
The FBI agents proceeded to put Houck into a vehicle and when his wife asked if they had a warrant, she said that they replied that “they were going to take him whether they had a warrant or not.”
After she accused them of kidnapping her husband, they presented her with the first page of the warrant, she said, which showed he was charged with violations of the FACE Act, due to an alleged “ATTACK OF A PATIENT ESCORT.”
Mark Houck was taken to “the federal building in downtown Philadelphia,” his wife told the outlet.
As a result of the incident, the children were “really sad and stressed,” Ryan-Marie said. “I don’t really know what’s going to come of it when you see guns pointed at your dad and your mom in your house when you first wake up in the morning.”
The Charges
On Friday, Mark Houck was charged by Indictment with a violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which makes it 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.
Houck made his initial appearance in federal court on Friday.
According to the DOJ, Houck is alleged to have twice assaulted a man because he was a volunteer reproductive health care clinic escort.
According to the DOJ, the charges stem from two separate incidents both on October 13, 2021, which occurred at the Planned Parenthood Elizabeth Blackwell Health Center on Locust Street in Philadelphia, where Houck allegedly assaulted the victim, a 72-year-old man, identified in the Indictment as “B.L.,” because B.L. was a volunteer escort at the reproductive health care clinic.
In the first incident, B.L. was attempting to escort two patients exiting the clinic, when the defendant forcefully shoved B.L. to the ground. In the second incident, the defendant verbally confronted B.L. and forcefully shoved B.L. to the ground in front of the Planned Parenthood center, causing injuries to B.L. that required medical attention.
“Assault is always a serious offense, and under the FACE Act, if the victim is targeted because of their association with a reproductive healthcare clinic, it is a federal crime,” said U.S. Attorney Romero. “Our Office and the Department of Justice are committed to prosecuting crimes which threaten the safety and rights of all individuals.”
“Put simply, violence is never the answer,” said Jacqueline Maguire, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “Violating the FACE Act by committing a physical assault is a serious crime for which the FBI will work to hold offenders accountable.”
If convicted, the Houck faces a maximum possible sentence of 11 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and fines of up to $350,000.
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