A pro-life advocate and founder of a Catholic men’s organization in Pennsylvania was arrested Friday at his rural home in connection to an alleged altercation with a volunteer escort outside of an abortion clinic in October 2021.
Mark Houck, 48, has been charged with a violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which prohibits the use of force with intent to injure, intimidate and interfere with anyone who is a provider of reproductive health care.
Houck has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges, according to Foxnews.com.
Houck’s wife, Ryan-Marie, told Catholic News Agency that her husband was taken into custody in front of their children by a “SWAT team of about 25” who had their guns drawn.
Ryan-Marie Houck said the officers pointed their weapons at her and her children before putting her husband in handcuffs. “The kids were all just screaming. It was all just very scary and traumatic,” she said.
But a spokesperson for the FBI told Fox News Digital that no SWAT Team or SWAT operators were involved, and that Houck “was taken into custody without incident pursuant to an indictment.” Law enforcement also denies entering the house or pointing weapons at the family.
“Assault is always a serious offense, and under the FACE Act, if the victim is targeted because of their association with a reproductive healthcare clinic, it is a federal crime,” U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Romero said in a press release. “Violating the FACE Act by committing a physical assault is a serious crime for which the FBI will work to hold offenders accountable.”
Prosecutors say Houck twice assaulted a 72-year-old man outside a Philadelphia Planned Parenthood, by shoving him to the ground as he escorted patients who were exiting the clinic.
But Ryan-Marie Houck told LifeSiteNews that the man her husband shoved was saying “inappropriate and disgusting things” to their son, who sometimes accompanied his father to pray outside the clinic each week.
Ryan-Marie Houck said her husband shoved the male volunteer to the ground after he got into her “son’s personal space.” Ryan-Marie Houck said that a similar charge against her husband was thrown out by a district court this past summer.
Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano, who is also running for governor, criticized the FBI for their arrest of Houck.
“The continued weaponization of the FBI and persecution by Joe Biden’s DOJ against ordinary Americans is an outrage,” he said in a statement. “This show of force carried out by the Biden regime against ordinary Americans is an abuse of power that stands against the fundamental principles on which our country was founded.”
Other Republican lawmakers across the country have voiced concerns about the FBI’s handling of the arrest, including U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, who accused the DOJ of “overreach” during an interview with Fox News.
If convicted, Houck faces a maximum of 11 years in prison, three years of supervised release and fines of up to $350,000.