Mark Houck, the pro-life father of seven targeted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), joined Fox News’ Laura Ingraham on Thursday, and railed against what he says are attacks on religious liberty.
Houck was accused of assaulting a clinic escort outside of a Philadelphia-based Planned Parenthood in October 2021, according to a United States Attorney’s Office press release. While prosecutors alleged Houck violated the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, Houck argued he was defending his 12-year-old son from harassment. Houck was arrested by at least 15 FBI agents in front of his children after they stormed his home. In January 2023, Houck was found not guilty.
Now running for Congress, Houck railed against the apparent targeting of devout Americans by the Biden Administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ), referencing not only his own experience but an internal memo originating from the FBI field office in Richmond that suggested traditional Catholic groups were a hotbed for domestic terrorism.
“First of all, I’m a Roman Catholic. I don’t know who they are talking about — these traditional radical Catholics,” Ingraham told Houck, adding that she supposed they were just targeting any one who practiced Roman Catholicism.
Houck, for his part, took aim at FBI Director Christopher Wray for dismissing the raid against him.
After it was revealed that the FBI officials had drafted an internal memo listing traditional Catholic groups as hotbeds for domestic terrorism, Wray told the Senate Intelligence Committee in March it had originated from one office. “It was a product by one field office, which, of course we have scores and scores of these products. And when we found out about it, we took action,” Wray stated at the time, telling the committee that officials took steps to remove the internal memo from FBI systems.
A less redacted version of the internal memo, however, reportedly revealed that multiple FBI offices were coordinating together in the targeting of Catholics. (RELATED: FBI’s ‘Radical, Traditional Catholic’ Probe Was Wider Than Director Claimed, Newly Unredacted Document Shows)
“Well, it’s obvious to me two things are happening here, Laura. The first thing is Director Wray is not doing his own personal investigation as it pertains to my situation because I was raided by the FBI,” Houck stated, adding that he was surprised he hadn’t just been shot like Craig Robertson. Robertson was reportedly killed by FBI agents Wednesday after allegedly posting threats directed towards President Joe Biden.
Houck further accused Wray of not doing a personal investigation into the Richmond memo targeting Catholic groups. “He flat out perjured himself before the Oversight Committee. Either way, he — it’s clear the DOJ is targeting people of faith and declaring them enemies of the state,” Houck argued.
Houck is running for Pennsylvania’s 1st Congressional District, which is currently held by Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick. After seeing “first-hand what an out of control government can do to its citizens,” Houck declared he “will fight to protect all people and their rights under God & our Constitution.”