CV NEWS FEED // Prolife activist and former candidate for Congress Mark Houck has filed a new lawsuit against the federal government for wrongfully targeting him on account of his prolife views.
As CatholicVote previously reported, the 50 year old Catholic originally filed notice of suit against the Biden administration’s Department of Justice in November 2023 for over $4 million in damages, after Houck was unanimously acquitted of violating the FACE Act in January the same year.
The new suit filed on May 20 under the Federal Tort Claims Act is backed by 40 Days for Life’s Institute of Law & Justice (ILJ), and names multiple state and local law officers who participated in Houck’s infamous arrest in September 2022, in which a SWAT team of 25 raided Houck’s family home.
Houk’s dramatic arrest followed a federal indictment claiming two separate violations of the FACE Act.
Houck described the case in court documents filed earlier this week as “a faulty and malicious investigation,” which caused significant emotional trauma for his wife and children who collectively witnessed his drastic arrest.
Houk’s attorneys further asserted in the filings that “FBI investigative officers acted deliberately to fabricate probable cause in order to indict, arrest, and charge Mr. Houck with a crime they knew he did not commit.”
“Mr. Houck [was] targeted without probable cause and because of his beliefs,” they added.
The FBI has repeatedly pushed back against Houck’s accusations, claiming that his account of the arrest was “inaccurate” and that its agents’ treatment of him was “in line with standard practices.”
40 Days for Life CEO and President Shawn Carney told The Washington Examiner that prior to the reversal of Roe v. Wade, prolife protestors had relied upon the FBI and DOJ for protection.
“This cooperation spanned multiple administrations, from Obama to Trump and even the early Biden administration,” he said. “However, once Roe was overturned, pro-lifers across the nation, including Mark Houck, faced unprecedented attacks and targeting from the DOJ.”
Carney noted that his organisation was the subject of multiple targeted inquiries and “harassment” by the FBI and DOJ after Dobbs, which ceased after IJL lawyers filed their original Notice of Claim in November.
