Pro-lifers call the win “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.”
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
