Houck demanded the man leave them alone, but Love persisted and finally Houck pushed him away from his son, and Love fell to the ground.
Love then pressed assault charges against Houck, but these were thrown out of court. He then filed a private criminal complaint, but that, too, was dismissed when Love failed to show up for multiple hearings, all of which Houck attended.
That seemed to be the end of the matter until May of 2022 when Houck learned that the FBI was planning to bring charges against him.
Houck's attorneys informed the FBI that their client would appear in court voluntarily, but one morning in September, 2022, almost a year after the altercation with Love, more than a dozen police vehicles pulled up to his home in rural Pennsylvania and approximately twenty five FBI officers with automatic rifles, ballistic shields, and a battering ram surrounded the house and arrested Houck in front of his wife and seven terrified children who witnessed the FBI aiming guns at their father as though he were a terrorist.
Even though local law enforcement in Philadelphia thought there was nothing in this incident to prosecute, the FBI took it upon themselves to bring new charges against Houck, dusting off an obscure federal law called the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances, or FACE Act, to charge him with. The FACE Act carries a penalty of up to 11 years in prison.
Under Attorney General Merrick Garland this statute provides justification to arrest pro-life demonstrators who are counselling and protesting, often by simply praying, outside abortion clinics, but Houck's encounter with Love took place a block away from the clinic, and neither he nor his son were preventing anyone from entering that facility. Nor were any clinic employees involved.
It was simply a case of a father trying to protect his son from a very rude adult acting in a despicable manner.
So, why did the FBI treat Houck as though he were a dangerous criminal and lead him out of his house in his underwear and handcuffs? Garland wanted, it seems, to make an example of Houck, to send the message to pro-life folks that if you oppose the killing of unborn babies you will be subject to the same kind of treatment.
The FBI's behavior was so egregious and their case so weak that in February of 2023 a jury unanimously found Houck not guilty after deliberating for only about an hour.
Now comes word that Houck is going to do his best to make sure he sends his own message to those in federal law enforcement who feel they can abuse their power with impunity. An article at The Federalist explains:
Last month, he [Houck] filed a lawsuit against the Department of Justice for $4.3 million. Houck initially filed a notice of claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act, naming six police officers who assisted in the home raid.It'd be genuine justice if he won this suit, although it's a shame that the taxpayers would have to pay for the abusive behavior of our Attorney General and his minions in the FBI.
The claim accuses the Biden DOJ of “malicious prosecution, retaliatory prosecution, abuse of process, false arrest, assault, and intentional infliction of emotional distress committed by federal employees and agents against Mr. Houck, Mrs. Houck, and their children.”
Filed November 2023, the claim has now passed the required six-month notice period and is an active lawsuit as of late last month.
On the other hand, it's reassuring, I suppose, to reflect that serious federal crimes in the U.S. must be so rare that our law enforcement heroes can spend their time focusing on dangerous threats such as are posed by the likes of Mark Houck.
One wonders, finally, how ashamed of themselves those agents who participated in the arrest must've felt taking Houck into custody in front of his family as though he were a common criminal.
