FBI Use of Force in Pro-Life Arrest ‘Shocking’ and ‘Unnecessary’: Heritage Foundation Senior Legal Fellow

A senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation thinktank, Hans von Spakovsky, believes the arrest of pro-life activist Mark Houck by armed agents, based on the facts of the case, did not warrant that level of force by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), saying they went “way overboard.”

Von Spakovsky said U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland has “weaponized” the DOJ to go after political opponents, and FBI leadership should not have gone along with it.

“This is a use of law enforcement in a way that it should not be used. And frankly, it’s shocking, and should scare a lot of Americans,” von Spakovsky said during a Sept. 28 interview with NTD Capitol Report. The arrest of Houck using an armed FBI team was, an “unnecessary use of force, and the entire prosecution and indictment of him seem way overboard.”

The Epoch Times reached out to the DOJ for comment.

Houck, co-founder and president of The King’s Men apostolate, is an author, lecturer, radio host, and activist who often went to an abortion clinic to speak and pray peacefully. He pleaded not guilty on Sept. 27 to federal charges after he was arrested by FBI agents in an early morning raid at his home, last week.

Von Spakovsky questioned why the DOJ picked up Houck’s case after it was dropped by his district attorney last year.

“I think this is not a real case,” said von Spakovsky. “The district attorney in Philadelphia refused to file any criminal charges. The civil lawsuit filed by this escort was thrown out of court and yet now a year later, all of a sudden, the Justice Department jumps in and shows up at Mr. Houck’s door with guns drawn and two dozen FBI agents.”

DOJ prosecutors accused Houck of violating