Pro-life hero Mark Houck, who earlier this week won his case against the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), is set to file a lawsuit against the FBI for targeting his family.
Houck appeared on the podcast “War Room” with Steve Bannon on January 31, 2023. Bannon asked him whether he was going to respond to the FBI and DOJ’s prosecution of him.
“Do you intend to press charges for prosecutorial abuse? And are you going to press charges against the FBI agents and the state troopers?” Bannon asked Houck.
“We most definitely will and we will be seeking counsel on that,” Houck replied.
At 7 a.m. on September 23, 2022, two dozen FBI agents showed up at the Houck residence, pointed weapons at Mr. Houck, arrested him and intimidated his family. “They said they were going to break in if he didn’t open it. And then they had about five guns pointed at my husband, myself, and basically at my kids,” Mr. Houck’s wife later recounted.
The raid came around one year after an incident outside a local abortion clinic on October 13, 2021, where Mr. Houck defended his 12-year-old son from an aggressive abortion “escort.” Late last year, U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Romero filed charges against Mr. Houck for allegedly violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, leading to the FBI incursion.
On the podcast, Houck discussed more about what transpired on the morning of the FBI’s raid on his home, as transcribed by LifeNews.
“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.”
“I opened the door and I said, ‘What are you doing here?’”
“They said, ‘You know why we’re here,’” Houck said.
“And then I said, ‘Oh, I know why you’re here. You’re here because I rescue babies,’” he said.
The Daily Citizen has reached out to the Thomas More Society, inquiring about Houck’s new lawsuit. The organization represented Houck pro bono during his recent litigation battle. So far, we haven’t received a response.
When United States Attorney Jacqueline Romero originally filed an indictment against Houck, she said that “Houck, by force, intentionally injured, intimidated and interfered with B.L., and attempted to injure, intimidate, and interfere with, B.L., because B.L. was and had been providing reproductive health services.”
Yet, the Attorney Romero failed to acknowledge that it was Mr. Love, also referred to as “B.L.,” who had approached and verbally confronted Mr. Houck and his 12-year-old son during the altercation last year, not the other way around. Mr. Love was the instigator of the incident, not Houck.
Apparently, those are minor details for the attorney to admit, especially when there are pro-life supporters to prosecute.
Thankfully, Mr. Houck was found “not guilty” in the DOJ’s lawsuit earlier this week.
Attorney General Merrick Garland has pledged that the DOJ “will use every tool at our disposal to protect reproductive freedom.”
Since that statement, at least a dozen pro-life supporters have been arrested and charged by the DOJ for allegedly violating the FACE Act, which prohibits individuals from “intimidating” or “interfering” with access to “reproductive health services,” including abortion clinics.
Yet, the DOJ has only indicted two individuals for targeting pro-life pregnancy resource centers (PRCs), despite over 100 attacks that have been orchestrated against PRCs and churches since Roe v. Wade was overturned on June 24, 2022.
The DOJ must do more to protect PRCs and churches, and perhaps it would have more time to do so if it wasn’t prosecuting innocent pro-life Americans like Mark Houck.
Maybe Mr. Houck’s upcoming lawsuit is what’s needed to get the DOJ back in line.
The original case was United States of America v. Mark Houck.
Related articles:
‘Not Guilty’: Pro-Life Hero Mark Houck Acquitted in DOJ Lawsuit
FBI Swat Team Swarms Pro-Life Dad’s Home, Arrests Him for Shoving Incident a Year Ago
Photo from Thomas More Society.
