Catholic father whose home was raided at gunpoint wins 7-figure settlement from U.S. government

Nearly four years after the home of Catholic father of seven and pro-life activist Mark Houck was arrested at gunpoint, he and his wife won a settlement of more than $1 million from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

The Houck home, located in rural eastern Pennsylvania, was raided by 20 armed federal agents in the early hours of the morning on Sept. 23, 2022. Houck was arrested in front of his family and interrogated for six hours.

Houck and his wife, Ryan-Marie, sued the DOJ and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in November 2023 after Houck was acquitted in January of that same year of the incident that prompted the raid.

While praying at a Planned Parenthood facility in October 2021, Houck had defended his 12-year-old son during an altercation with an aggressive, elderly Planned Parenthood volunteer.

Upon his arrest, Houck was charged with alleged violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, a 1994 federal law that protects access to abortion services and places of worship. If convicted, Houck faced up to 11 years in federal prison and up to $350,000 in fines. Under the Biden administration, many pro-life activists were charged with violating the FACE Act in what the Justice Department now claims was a weaponization of the law.

In the lawsuit, the Houcks alleged that they and their children suffered post-traumatic stress, economic loss, and loss of reputation after the event. They also said their children suffered from intense anxiety, constant fear of losing their parents, and inability to sleep, and that the stress from the trial led Ryan-Marie to have three miscarriages and receive an infertility diagnosis.

‘Huge victory for free speech’

Two organizations involved in the case are celebrating the victory as a win for the pro-life movement and for freedom of speech.

40 Days for Life President Shawn Carney called the win a “huge legal victory for free speech, not just for pro-life Americans,” in a video statement.

“Itʼs a huge victory for all Americans who want our right to speak our minds peacefully in a law-abiding way without fear of our own government,” Carney said.

Peter Breen, Thomas More Society executive vice president and head of litigation, said the organization was “thrilled with the outcome.”

“The Biden Department of Justice’s intimidation against pro-life people and people of faith has been put in its place,” Breen said.

“We took on Goliath — the full might of the United States government — and won,” Breen said. “The jury saw through and rejected the prosecution’s discriminatory case, which was harassment from Day 1. This is a win for Mark and the entire pro-life movement.”

Carney said the victory was a “long shot.”

“They have a 98% conviction rate at the DOJ, so heʼs part of the 2% that got acquitted,” Carney said. “And then to go on offense and to say, weʼre not going to stand for this from our government, and to sue them, and for them to settle and win is a huge, huge victory.”

Carney said that, as pro-lifers, “we got so much persecution from the DOJ under Biden, and President Trump has corrected that.”

“It has been absolutely night and day. Under Biden, at one point, we were getting one to two inquiries from the FBI per week at different 40 Days for Life locations,” Carney said. “This is absolutely ridiculous, and that has stopped, and we have been victorious in our lawsuit against the DOJ.”

“So, be not afraid, go out, peacefully pray to end abortion,” Carney concluded.

Source: https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/us/catholic-father-whose-home-was-raided-at-gunpoint-wins-seven-figure-settlement-from-u-s