(Oct. 3) Twelve U.S. senators have written a letter demanding answers about an armed raid on the child-filled home of a pro-life activist. That’s great, but why haven’t the other 88 senators joined them?
This was a slam-dunk example of the dangerous misuse of FBI personnel. Indeed, it was so inexcusable that heads at the FBI should (figuratively) roll. The FBI itself has confirmed that (at least) 20 armed agents were on the scene, and photos show an agent with a long gun and a ballistic shield. All this, in a dawn raid at a home with seven children, to arrest a man involved in an extremely minor skirmish 49 weeks earlier, one whose lawyer repeatedly had informed the Justice Department that the man would gladly appear voluntarily for any booking procedures.
The raid manifestly violated the FBI’s Investigations and Operations Guide and a May 20, 2022, memorandum from Attorney General Merrick Garland that insists on “de-escalation tactics and techniques.”
And the misuse of force doesn’t even consider the likelihood that no federal crime was committed during the brief original skirmish.
The federal law at issue is called the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances. The FACE Act prohibits individuals from intimidating or interfering with anyone obtaining or providing “reproductive health services.” The pro-life activist in question, Mark Houck, had been peacefully protesting for months without interfering with access. There is no allegation that he interfered with access this time either. He apparently got into a scuffle with a volunteer clinic escort — not to stop the volunteer work but only when the volunteer allegedly began harassing Houck’s then-11-year-old son.
Even if Houck were guilty of some momentary violation of the FACE Act, there is clearly nothing suggesting he would disregard a summons for his arrest, much less violently resist. His lawyer claims to have left multiple messages to the Justice Department that Houck would voluntarily comply with any summons.
Instead, at least 20 armed agents converged on Houck’s door at 7:05 a.m. and, in front of his frightened children, led him away in handcuffs.
This is why sometimes federal agents get called “jackbooted thugs.”….
