Mastriano says FBI arrest of Bucks County man for alleged assault at Planned Parenthood 'an abuse of power'

An anti-abortion activist from Upper Bucks County is facing federal charges for allegedly twice assaulting and injuring an elderly male volunteer acting as a patient escort for a Planned Parenthood clinic in Philadelphia.

Mark Houck, 48, of Kintersville, was charged by indictment with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrance Act, which makes it a federal crime to use force with intent to injure, intimidate or interfere with someone providing reproductive health care.

Houck made his initial appearance in U.S. Eastern District Court in Philadelphia on Friday. If convicted, he faces a maximum possible sentence of 11 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and up to $350,000 in fines.

UPDATE:FBI denies anti-abortion activist's claims that SWAT force was used in Bucks County arrest

On Saturday, Doug Mastriano, the Republican candidate for governor of Pennsylvania, released a statement in support of Houck and blasting the FBI and president.

"The continued weaponization of the FBI and persecution by Joe Biden's DOJ against ordinary Americans is an outrage, Mastriano said in the statement.

"This morning, a heavily armed SWAT team of dozens of FBI agents raided the home of Mark Houck of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, with his wife and terrified children inside over a case that was long thrown out by the District Court in Philadelphia. Mark and Ryan-Marie Houck’s seven children were traumatized and in tears as they witnessed their parents held at gunpoint and their father hauled away in handcuffs."

The charge against Houck stems from two incidents that occurred on Oct. 13, 2021, at the Planned Parenthood Elizabeth Blackwell Health Center on Locust Street, where he allegedly assaulted a 72-year-old volunteer escort identified in documents by the initials B.L.

In the first incident, B.L. was attempting to escort two patients exiting the clinic, when Houck shoved him to the ground, according to federal prosecutors. In the second incident, Houck verbally confronted B.L. and again shoved him to the ground in front of the Planned Parenthood center, causing injuries that required medical attention.

“Assault is always a serious offense, and under the FACE Act, if the victim is targeted because of their association with a reproductive health care clinic, it is a federal crime,” U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Romero said in a statement.

Online sources list Houck as the founder of a Catholic men's organization called "The King's Men." He has been protesting outside the Blackwell clinic for the last 20 years, according to an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer earlier this year.

"Citizens across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania join me in expressing our outrage at this early-morning raid executed on a young family," Mastriano said. "This show of force carried out by the Biden regime against ordinary Americans is an abuse of power that stands against the fundamental principles on which our country was founded.

"As governor, I will not allow the police state of Joe Biden to enforce his persecution against his political enemies on sacred Pennsylvania soil. Not on my watch."

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This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Upper Bucks anti-abortion protestor charged with shoving clinic escort