{"id":1659466,"date":"2022-09-27T06:37:28","date_gmt":"2022-09-27T10:37:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1659466"},"modified":"2022-09-27T06:37:31","modified_gmt":"2022-09-27T10:37:31","slug":"fbi-responds-to-reports-that-swat-team-was-used-to-arrest-pro-life-activist-in-front-of-children-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fbi-responds-to-reports-that-swat-team-was-used-to-arrest-pro-life-activist-in-front-of-children-2\/","title":{"rendered":"FBI Responds to Reports That &#8220;SWAT Team&#8221; Was Used to Arrest Pro-Life Activist in Front of Children"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffbi-responds-to-reports-that-swat-team-was-used-to-arrest-pro-life-activist-in-front-of-children-2%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1659466&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-fbi\">FBI<\/a> responded on Sept. 26 to media reports and claims that it sent a SWAT team to raid the Pennsylvania home of pro-life activist Mark Houck.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are inaccurate claims being made regarding the arrest of Mark Houck. No SWAT Team or SWAT operators were involved,\u201d the FBI Philadelphia office told The Epoch Times. \u201cFBI agents knocked on Mr. Houck\u2019s front door, identified themselves as FBI agents, and asked him to exit the residence. He did so and was taken into custody without incident pursuant to an indictment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, when reached for comment, the bureau didn\u2019t directly address claims made by Houck\u2019s wife,\u00a0Ryan-Marie Houck, that agents had their guns drawn and pointed them at her and Mark Houck.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile it\u2019s the FBI\u2019s standard practice not to discuss such operational specifics, we can say that the number of personnel and vehicles widely reported as being on scene Friday is an overstatement, and the tactics used by FBI personnel were professional, in line with standard practices, and intended to ensure the safety of everyone present in and outside the residence,\u201d the statement reads.<\/p>\n<p>The FBI also didn\u2019t address an allegation that their children could see the arrest and \u201cwere all just screaming\u201d while the arrest was being carried out. The bureau\u2019s Sept. 26 comment to The Epoch Times also appears to be a boilerplate FBI statement that was sent to other media outlets about Houck\u2019s arrest.<\/p>\n<p>The agents \u201chad big, huge rifles pointed at Mark and pointed at me and kind of pointed throughout the house,\u201d Ryan-Marie Houck <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lifesitenews.com\/news\/fbi-raids-home-of-catholic-pro-life-speaker-author-with-guns-drawn-as-his-terrified-kids-watch\/\">told<\/a> LifeSite News.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur staircase is open, so [the kids] were all at the top of the stairs which faces the front door, and I was on the stairs as well, coming down,\u201d she said. \u201cThe kids were all just screaming. It was all just very scary and traumatic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In an interview with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/252380\/fbi-raids-home-of-pro-life-leader-on-questionable-charges\">Catholic News Agency<\/a>, Ryan-Marie said agents allegedly told them they were going to break down the door if they didn\u2019t open it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey had about five guns pointed at my husband, myself, and basically at my kids,\u201d she said, noting that upward of 25 agents were involved in the raid. The FBI didn\u2019t comment on the number of agents that were used in the arrest.<\/p>\n<p>An unnamed FBI source told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/us\/pennsylvania-pro-life-activist-arrested-fbi-charged-assaulting-clinic-escort\">Fox News<\/a> that there were possibly 15 to 20 agents, denying that 25 were there.<\/p>\n<p>The individual also said the agents who arrived at the door had guns out already and firearms were never pointed at Houck, his wife, or his children, and the guns were lowered and holstered once he was arrested. Another unnamed law enforcement official told Fox News that agents never entered the house. The Epoch Times couldn\u2019t independently verify either claim.<\/p>\n<h2>Criticism<\/h2>\n<p>Republican officials, including Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano, decried the raid and accused the FBI of targeting ordinary citizens for political reasons. The FBI has faced significant backlash from whistleblowers and Republican officials in recent days for what they say is increasing political bias among the bureau\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe continued weaponization of the FBI and persecution by Joe Biden\u2019s DOJ against ordinary Americans is an outrage,\u201d Mastriano said <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/dougmastriano\/status\/1573772157565521920\">in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>As of Sept. 26, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.givesendgo.com\/prolifefamily\">a GiveSendGo fundraiser<\/a> for Houck\u2019s family raised nearly $200,000.<\/p>\n<p>The fundraiser alleged that with Houck\u2019s arrest, the Biden administration, \u201cPlanned Parenthood, and its pro-abortion allies want to send a message of fear to the pro-life community of Pennsylvania.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Charges<\/h2>\n<p>U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Romero <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-edpa\/pr\/bucks-county-man-indicted-federal-charges-assaulting-reproductive-healthcare-clinic\">said<\/a>\u00a0on Sept. 23 that Houck was charged by indictment with a violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. She alleged that Houck assaulted a 72-year-old man near a Planned Parenthood center in Philadelphia in October 2021.<\/p>\n<p>The FACE Act, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ), \u201cmakes it a federal crime to use force with the intent to injure, intimidate, and interfere with anyone because that person is a provider of reproductive health care.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to the DOJ, the alleged victim, B.L., was attempting to escort two patients from the Planned Parenthood clinic when Houck \u201cforcefully shoved\u201d the individual \u201cto the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On the same day, Houck \u201cverbally confronted\u201d B.L. and again \u201cforcefully shoved\u201d the person to the ground near the Planned Parenthood center. That incident caused injuries to\u00a0B.L. \u201cthat required medical attention,\u201d the DOJ stated without elaborating.<\/p>\n<p>Brian Middleton, a spokesperson for Houck\u2019s family,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/252385\/mark-houck-fbi-arrest-abortion-clinic\">disputed<\/a> those allegations, saying that he was defending his 12-year-old son from\u00a0B.L.\u2019s harassment. The family is now attempting to produce a video of the incident.<\/p>\n<p>The man fell to the ground when Houck pushed him away, Middleton said, disputing prosecutors\u2019 claims that he shoved the abortion escort.<\/p>\n<p>Both city police and the district attorney\u2019s office declined to file charges against Houck over the incident, the family spokesperson told Catholic News Agency. B.L. also filed a private criminal complaint against Houck, but Middleton said it was dropped when B.L. didn\u2019t show up in court on multiple occasions.<\/p>\n<p>Houck\u2019s attorney, Thomas More Society Vice President and senior counsel Peter Breen, told LifeSiteNews that Houck also agreed to turn himself in voluntarily several months ago.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRather than accepting Mark Houck\u2019s offer to appear voluntarily, the Biden Department of Justice chose to make an unnecessary show of potentially deadly force, sending 20 heavily armed federal agents to the Houck residence at dawn this past Friday,\u201d Breen said. \u201cIn threatening form, after nearly breaking down the family\u2019s front door, at least five agents pointed guns at Mark\u2019s head and arrested him in front of his wife and seven young children, who were terrified that their husband and father would be shot dead before their eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"author_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"one_author_block round\">\n<div class=\"top_row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/author-jack-phillips\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2019\/06\/13\/Jack-Phillips.jpg\" alt=\"Jack Phillips\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"names\">\n<p>Breaking News Reporter<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Follow<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter at The Epoch Times based in New York.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The FBI responded on Sept. 26 to media reports and claims that it sent a SWAT team to raid the Pennsylvania home of pro-life activist Mark Houck.\u201cThere are inaccurate claims<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1659466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1659466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1659466"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1659466\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1659466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1659466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1659466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}