Father of seven pleads not guilty amid regime crackdown on pro-life Americans

A pro-life activist being targeted by the Biden Justice Department pled not guilty Tuesday to charges levied against him over an altercation last year with a feticide supporter. The incident prompted an early morning blitz by the FBI Friday who surrounded the activist’s home with guns drawn. 

Mark Houck, a Catholic father of seven, was praying with his 12-year-old son in front of a Planned Parenthood last year when a Planned Parenthood “escort” - someone who walks people to the clinic doors to protect them from “harassment” - allegedly began harassing Houck’s son. The two moved away from the entrance to the building, but the escort followed them and continued yelling at the child. At that point, Houck allegedly pushed him away. 

The escort pressed charges against Houck last year, which were ultimately dismissed by a federal court – but Biden’s DOJ picked up the case anyway. 

Around 7:00 AM on Friday, the Houck family was visited by 15-20 FBI agents, guns drawn, who began pounding on the door and shouting for Houck to come out of the house. Houck tried telling the agents that they were scaring the children, but the agents continued shouting. 

“They had big, huge rifles pointed at Mark and pointed at me and kind of pointed throughout the house,” said Houck’s wife, Ryan-Marie, though the FBI denies pointing the guns at anyone. “The kids were all just screaming. It was all just very scary and traumatic,” she added. 

Though the assault charges were dismissed, Houck is now facing 11 years in prison and a $350,000 fine for violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which makes it a felony “to use force with the intent to injure, intimidate and interfere with anyone because that person produces reproductive health care.” 

“[W]hat’s clear from the Department of Justice at its highest levels, which is directing this case, [is] that they are trying to send a message to pro-life and people of faith: ‘Don’t mess with us,'” stated Houck’s attorney and Thomas More Society Vice-President Peter Breen, according to Fox News. “They want to intimidate — they want to cause good people like Mark to stop praying and counseling at the abortion clinics of our country. And that’s not going to happen.” 

“What in the world would possess the Department of Justice to send 20 or so heavily armed agents to this family’s home, violate the sanctity of that home, frighten the children and then drag their father away instead of allowing us to present him peacefully, which we had offered to do?” the attorney added. 

A GiveSendGo fundraiser for the Houcks was created by Joe and Ashley Garecht, whose two young daughters were harassed in 2019 by then-Rep. Brian Sims (D-PA) as they prayed outside an abortion center. After harassing the girls for several minutes, Sims videoed them and offered $100 to anyone who could provide their identities. The girls were 13 and 15 years old at the time. 

As of this writing, the Houcks’ GiveSendGo campaign has raised over $330,000 of its $350,000 goal. 

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) slammed US Attorney General Merrick Garland Monday for the Justice Department’s actions against Houck and demanded answers. 

“I want to know from Merrick Garland directly why Biden’s DOJ is arresting Catholic protestors like terrorists – complete with SWAT-style tactics – while letting actual terrorist acts like firebombings go unpunished,” Hawley wrote in a tweet, posting a scathing letter he wrote to Garland. 

“I believe you must testify, under oath, before the Senate Judiciary Committee about your selective use and apparent political weaponization of the FACE Act,” Hawley wrote to Garland. 

However, as Sen. Hawley is likely aware, it is unlikely that Garland will be brought under oath; and if so, that any new measures would be implemented. Republican legislators have routinely issued strongly worded letters to Garland about various allegations of corruption and misuses of justice such as lying under oath without result. 

The DOJ’s actions against Houck are only the latest in a punitive crackdown of the pro-life movement by the Biden regime. 

This month, Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) openly called for violence against pro-life Americans by issuing a “literally call to arms.” 

“When I hear my colleagues talking about how, you know, it should be states’ rights, or government should not be telling us what to do, the word ‘hypocrites,’ it doesn’t even go far enough to call them out on what they’re doing,” Hirono said on the Senate floor. “This is an outright attack on women in this country. That is how I see it.”   

“That is how more and more women and those who support our right to make decisions about our own bodies, that is how we see it,” she continued. “And why? Because that’s what’s happening.”  

“Madam president, I yield the floor, but clearly, you know, this is a literally call to arms in our country, I yield the floor,” she concluded. 

Just days later, an 84-year-old pro-life activist was shot while distributing pamphlets door-to-door in Lake Odessa, Michigan. The woman, a volunteer for pro-life organization Right to Life of Michigan, was canvassing the neighborhood in opposition to Proposal 3 when she was shot in the shoulder by Richard Harvey, the bullet lodging in her back.  

Harvey and his wife Shannon, both of whom are proud feticide supporters, claimed the shooting was an “accident”. 

As of Thursday morning, no charges against Harvey have been filed as Ionia County police are “still investigating.” 

Last month, Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) boasted about pressuring Google to suppress pro-life centers and only show the locations of assisted feticide clinics such as Planned Parenthood.