CV NEWS FEED // Mark Houck, a Pennsylvania pro-life leader and Catholic father of seven, pleaded not guilty to felony charges in federal court on Tuesday.
Thomas More Society Vice President and Senior Counsel Peter
Breen, who represented Houck, “said the case already made its way through the
state court process and was thrown out but that the Biden Department of Justice
took up the matter nearly a year later as a form of ‘political prosecution,’”
Fox News reported:
“If he was truly a danger to the community, they wouldn’t
have waited a year to prosecute,” Breen … said outside the courthouse. “Serious
questions need to be asked of the attorney general. What was he thinking? Why
did they do this obscene show of force against a peaceful pillar of the
community?”
Breen also pointed out that the arrest “put officers’ lives
in danger,” put the “Houck family in danger,” and “was an utter waste of
judicial resources and taxpayer resources.”
“This is a political prosecution,” Breen said:
And what’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.” 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.
Houck was arrested by a team of at least 20 armed agents in
the early hours of Friday morning. Agents nearly broke into the Houck family’s
home, pointed guns at Houck’s head, and shouted aggressively during the arrest,
according to Houck’s wife, who says their children witnessed the whole scene
and were deeply traumatized.
Houck was then charged with violating the Freedom of Access
to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, a felony, nearly a year ago, when Houck shoved
away a so-called “patient escort” who was harassing his 12-year-old son outside
of a Philadelphia Planned Parenthood clinic, according to Houck family
spokesman Brian Middleton.
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