22 Lawmakers Demand Garland Explain Raid on Pro-Life Activist

22 Lawmakers Demand Garland Explain Raid on Pro-Life Activist

September 28, 2022

In an open letter released on Tuesday, as many as 22 lawmakers spearheaded by Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) have called upon far-Left Attorney General Merrick Garland to explain why the FBI sent 25-30 fully-armed agents to arrest Catholic pro-life activist Mark Houck as his “screaming” children watched in horror.

“There is much to learn about the extent of the FBI’s operations in this case, apparently since state-level charges were apparently dismissed by local authorities in Philadelphia,” the letter reads. “Surely, the FBI must have an extraordinary reason for showing up at the home of an American family, allegedly with roughly 25 heavily armed federal agents, and arresting a father in front of his seven children. At the moment, it appears to be an extraordinary overreach for political ends.”

The letter demanded that Merrick Garland respond by September 30.

Rep. Roy told Fox News that the raid against Houck is further indicative of how politicized the FBI and the Department of Justice have become under President Biden.

Mark Houck, the founder and president of The King’s Men — a group dedicated to helping men become better husbands, fathers, and leaders — was arrested at his rural Pennsylvania home last Friday for allegedly violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act during his regular sidewalk counseling outside of an abortion clinic in 2021. Houck’s wife Ryan-Marie said that around 25 to 30 fully armored FBI agents stormed their property early Friday morning, aiming their rifles as the children screamed in horror.

The FACE Act violation stems from an incident in which Houck allegedly shoved a 72-year-old abortion activist escorting women into a Planned Parenthood clinic. Houck’s family maintains that the man would not stop harassing his 12-year-old son. Both Philadelphia police and the district attorney declined to file charges against Houck, and the case was dismissed in July.

According to attorney Peter Breen, Houck agreed to turn himself over to authorities voluntarily three months ago.

“Rather than accepting Mark Houck’s offer to appear voluntarily, the Biden Department of Justice chose to make an unnecessary show of potentially deadly force, sending twenty heavily armed federal agents to the Houck residence at dawn this past Friday,” Breen told Breitbart News. “In threatening form, after nearly breaking down the family’s front door, at least five agents pointed guns at Mark’s head and arrested him in front of his wife and seven young children, who were terrified that their husband and father would be shot dead before their eyes.”

“This case is being brought solely to intimidate people of faith and pro-life Americans,” he added. “Mark Houck is innocent of these lawless charges, and we intend to prove that in court.”

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