The lead attorney in the case involving pro-life speaker Mark Houck said that sending a team of heavily armed federal agents to his client’s home to arrest him in front of his wife and children on Sept. 23 represents a “new low” for the U.S. Department of Justice.
“Regular law-abiding citizens should not fear 20 heavily armed agents at their door to drag them out while trying to enjoy their morning coffee. This is outrageous,” said Peter Breen, vice president and senior attorney at the Thomas More Society, a national non-profit law firm.
Breen said that federal law enforcement usually reserves such shows of force for “a drug lord or a mafia boss—that’s how they came out to the Houck family home.”
Houck, 48, a Catholic pro-life speaker, author, and father of seven from Kintnersville, Pennsylvania, faces two counts of violating the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE Act).
Both charges stemmed from an altercation with a patient escort outside a Planned Parenthood clinic in October 2021.
“Here’s what we know,” Breen told The Epoch Times in a phone interview. “We know this [raid] was done at main justice out of Washington, D.C., and someone had to approve that size of a raid to execute an arrest warrant when the defendant’s attorney had offered to bring him in.”
“So that has to be approved at a high level within the Department Of Justice—possibly from the attorney general himself. But, certainly, one of his top people.”
‘Political Prosecution’
“As we go into the arraignment today, we are confident in our legal defenses,” Breen said. “We know this is a political prosecution intended to intimidate pro-life people and people of faith.”“This prosecution is being run at the highest levels of the Biden Department of Justice to make a point to people of faith and pro-life people [to scare them] away from advocating for rights and advocating against abortion.”
Houck’s indictment alleges that he twice assaulted a volunteer patient escort outside the Planned Parenthood Elizabeth Blackwell Health Center in Philadelphia on Oct. 13, 2021.
According to a DOJ press release announcing Houck’s arrest, the clinic volunteer attempted to escort two patients leaving the clinic when Houck “forcefully shoved” the man to the ground.
In the second alleged assault, Houck confronted the escort and shoved him to the ground in front of the clinic.
“Assault is always a serious offense, and under the FACE Act, if the victim is targeted because of their association with a reproductive health care clinic, it is a federal crime,” said U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Romero in the Sept. 23 press release.
‘Victim The Aggressor’
Breen, during the phone interview, identified the alleged victim as Bruce Love, 72, saying the evidence shows Houck was defending his son from Love’s alleged verbal attacks outside the clinic.“In this case, Bruce Love was the aggressor all the way through. The facts will bear that out. We will make that case in court,” Breen said.
Breen said that federal prosecutors using the FACE Act rests on the false presumption that Roe v. Wade is still the “law of the land” and that abortion is constitutionally protected.
On June 24, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 legislation that made abortion a federal right in the United States, turning the matter back to individual states.
“The very basis for the FACE Act has been seriously undermined. Even more so, this case involves state-level issues, not federal issues,” Breen said.
“The allegations of the Biden Department of Justice are about an altercation between two people on a public sidewalk. That is not a federal issue, and Mark Houck did nothing wrong in defending his son. And he certainly did not violate federal law.”
While Love claimed to be the victim, Breen said, the Philadelphia district attorney did not move forward with prosecuting the case.
“Even after Mr. Love filed a private criminal complaint, the state court threw that complaint out,” Breen added, “partly because he stopped showing up for hearings. He certainly did not act like someone who was the victim of a supposed crime.”
Breen said his organization remained in contact with DOJ officials, advising they had “no good legal theory” to indict Houck for violation of the FACE Act.
Unnecessary Show of Force
“Even if they were going to go and serve an arrest warrant on Mr. Houck, they could have sent a single car with a couple of agents. They could have given him enough time to get dressed and go. They did not need guns drawn and pointed at him and then to have him shackled and taken away.”“It was 7 a.m. The family had just woken up. This is an outrageous abuse of American citizens. It violated the sanctity of their family home. It traumatized those poor children. How much did the taxpayers waste sending 20 heavily armed agents to this family home?”
Breen said the next thing he knew, Houck was in custody.
He said he is also confident that Houck will prevail in court, having defended clients in other FACE Act cases during the Obama administration.
“We fully expect to prevail in the end. However, you can never predict. We have strong defenses. Our client is innocent. We are going to fight this very robustly.”
Saying Houck’s heavy-handed arrest demonstrates a “new low” on the part of the DOJ, it also signifies the agency is “thoroughly corrupted and abusing power entrusted to it by the people of this country.”
“I would say to the Biden Department Of Justice that your message is received. We will strongly and vigorously respond in court—and the court of public opinion—that what you are doing is wrong and it’s illegal. We are going to put a stop to it,” Breen said.
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