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Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) responded Monday to Attorney General Merrick Garland about a “shocking report” that the FBI arrested a Catholic pro-life activist at his rural Pennsylvania home last Friday. sent a letter requesting
FBI agents arrested Mark Houck Friday in Kintnersville on suspicion of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrance (FACE) Act. The FACE Act makes it a federal crime to use force to harm, intimidate, or hinder someone. .
The arrest stems from an alleged altercation between Houck and a Planned Parenthood escort in Philadelphia in October 2021. Houck was accused of pushing a 72-year-old man after his bodyguard verbally harassed Houck’s 12-year-old son outside the clinic.
Hook claims he was trying to defend his son, and authorities have already dismissed separate charges against him for the same conduct.
What is a face act at the heart of Pennsylvania’s pro-life activist assault case?
In a letter to Garland, Hawley accused the Attorney General of “turning local disputes into national lawsuits” and criticized the FBI for executing search warrants “in the most extreme manner imaginable”. .
Hauk’s wife, Ryan Murray, told The Catholic News Agency, “A SWAT team of about 25 people came to my house in about 15 cars and started banging on our door.”
The FBI refuted her allegations, saying neither the SWAT team nor the SWAT operators were involved in the arrest.
“An FBI agent knocked on Mr Houck’s front door, identified himself as an FBI agent, and asked him to leave the residence,” the FBI agent told Fox News in a statement. “He did so and was detained without incident pursuant to the charges.”
A senior FBI source told Fox News that there may have been 15 to 20 agents at the scene, but denied there were 25. According to this FBI source, the agent who came to the door had a gun ready and ready, but the gun was never pointed at Houck or his family and would be dropped as soon as Houck was taken into custody. It was placed in a holster.
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Still, Hawley argued, it was “unprecedented to use this kind of force to make an arrest on a simple assault charge.”
He said the report was particularly shocking given that the Justice Department allegedly “turned a blind eye to pregnancy resource centers, places of worship, and prevalence of violence against pro-life Americans.” It is prohibited by the exact same laws,” Houck is indicted.
Hawley has filed more than 100 cases against pregnancy resource centers, churches, and pro-life Americans since the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion that overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. citing reports citing incidents of violence by militants in
“This is all a result of your office’s repeated weaponization of the FBI and other federal agencies against political opponents over a period of over a year,” Hawley said. If you’re trying, you’re failing spectacularly.”
Hawley concluded the letter by saying Garland must testify under oath before the Senate Judiciary Committee and his alleged “selected use and apparent political weaponization of the FACE Act.” .
Fox News has reached out to the Justice Department for comment.
The FBI maintains that extensive planning was made prior to service of the federal warrant and that the agency would “employ personnel and tactics deemed necessary to conduct a safe arrest or search.”
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“While it is standard FBI practice not to discuss the details of such operations, the number of personnel and vehicles widely reported to have been at the scene on Friday has been exaggerated and the tactics used by FBI personnel have been exaggerated. was in line with standard practice and was intended to ensure the safety of everyone inside and outside the residence,” the spokesperson said in a statement.