The Justice Department may need to neglect in regards to the Mark Houck debacle, however there’s no probability of that occuring with House Republicans in cost.

The pro-life activist mentioned Tuesday that his spouse and 7 kids are nonetheless shaken by the FBI raid final 12 months on his rural Pennsylvania residence, the place he was arrested at gunpoint for alleged violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. A jury acquitted him of the costs in January.

“My children were downrange of many guns, and they screamed through the whole process. The committee should know they were traumatized,” Mr. Houck advised the House Judiciary subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government.

Mr. Houck had beforehand supplied to show himself in to federal authorities. So why the raid?

“I’ve been thinking about that for many months, and I can only come up with that the intention was to humiliate me, to scare my children, and to instill fear in pro-life America,” Mr. Houck mentioned.

His expertise was front-and-center on the listening to on what Republicans described because the weaponization of the FACE Act, a 1994 federal regulation invoked final 12 months by the Biden administration to arrest an estimated 26 pro-life activists, together with Mr. Houck.

That’s greater than six occasions the variety of pro-choice activists charged thus far by the Justice Department within the 80-plus assaults on pro-life places of work and being pregnant facilities following the May 2022 leak of the Supreme Court’s draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade.

Rep. Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, mentioned the committee was involved about “the unequal application of the FACE Act by the Biden administration.”

“Here’s the worst part. While these radical left-wing groups go unpunished, the Justice Department at the same time has unleashed federal law enforcement on pro-life advocates,” mentioned Mr. Johnson, the subcommittee chair.

Democrats swung again by citing assaults on abortion clinics. The National Abortion Federation’s 2022 report on violence and disruption discovered loss of life threats or threats of hurt rose from 182 to 218, whereas stalkings elevated from 28 to 92; burglaries rose by 231%, and 4 clinics had been hit by arson.

Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, Pennsylvania Democrat, mentioned it could have made extra sense to look at political violence and threats and assaults on public officers and regulation enforcement, all of that are on the rise, “but that’s not the purpose of this hearing.”

“This majority has stacked the hearing with witnesses to testify about only threats and violence impacting only anti-abortion facilities, while ignoring the far more numerous threats against facilities that provide abortion care and other reproductive health services,” she mentioned.

The FACE Act applies to assaults on each abortion clinics and pro-life being pregnant facilities, however the Justice Department has issued solely 4 indictments in opposition to suspects linked to the unconventional pro-choice group Jane’s Revenge, which Mr. Johnson known as “not even a drop in the bucket.”

Rep. Jim Jordan, Ohio Republican, mentioned “we’re sick of the double standard,” citing the Houck prosecution.

Why’s Joe Biden’s DOJ concentrating on pro-life advocates? https://t.co/K3JfVihmZ2

— House Judiciary GOP (@JudiciaryGOP) May 16, 2023

Mr. Houck was arrested in September and charged with FACE Act violations stemming from a squabble with a Planned Parenthood volunteer outdoors a clinic in Philadelphia in October 2021.

Mr. Houck mentioned he pushed the volunteer, Bruce Love, to the bottom after he shouted at his 12-year-old son. Local prosecutors declined to deliver fees. A civil lawsuit introduced by Mr. Love was thrown out by the court docket.

Even so, Mr. Houck acquired a federal goal letter final 12 months. He supplied by way of his legal professional to show himself in to authorities, however as an alternative, an estimated 20 federal brokers and state troopers descended on his residence in what shortly turned a trigger celebre for pro-life teams.

He confronted as much as 11 years in jail, however was acquitted by a federal jury in Philadelphia.

Mr. Jordan accused the Justice Department of utilizing the pro-life activist as “the example” as a result of he checked the containers by being a pro-life Catholic with seven kids.

Mr. Houck mentioned his kids are nonetheless struggling to make sense of the episode.

“I see it every day in their faces. I see it in my wife. Just the fear in their eyes,” mentioned Mr. Houck. “Certainly, they have a fear of law enforcement now, because the law enforcement guys come after the bad guys, not the good guys. So my children are confounded by that.”

Content Source: www.washingtontimes.com