Pro-Life Activist Mark Houck, Wife Sue DOJ, Reveal 3 Miscarriages Since 'Malicious' FBI Raid

The pro-life activist who was arrested in a pre-dawn home raid by the FBI last fall is now suing the Department of Justice for their treatment of his family during the arrest, accusing the organization of a "faulty" investigation that led to an excessively forceful arrest and "malicious and retaliatory prosecution" that has severely impacted his wife and seven children.

Mark Houck woke up on September 23, 2022, to an incessant banging on his door. When he opened it, he saw more than 15 FBI agents crowded on his front porch and the front lawn with guns pointed at him. 

"They were all the way lined down my driveway," Houck told The Daily Signal. "I had agents on my porch with long guns." 

Despite putting his hands up and willingly cooperating, multiple agents pointed guns in Mark's face as his family – including his seven young children – were forced to watch their dad "shackled" and taken away, family representative Brian Middleton told CBN's Faithwire at the time.

The harrowing experience has left each member of the family with emotional wounds.

Houck has since been acquitted. Now he and his wife, Ryan-Marie, have filed lawsuits against the DOJ. Their complaints detail the extent of the emotional trauma their family has experienced since that day in September. 

"Her children have also suffered immense emotional trauma and physical manifestations of stress that Mrs. Houck has carried alone while her husband was away during his imprisonment and prosecution," the complaint says.

The complaint also adds that she and Mark have suffered from three miscarriages "due to the stress of the FBI's conduct and resulting prosecution."

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"The stress of these events was so difficult that the Houcks have been diagnosed with infertility," the complaint says.

It adds that Ryan-Marie has not only suffered "severe emotional distress and physical manifestations of stress and post-traumatic stress" since the raid but that their children "continually come to her crying and suffering from nightmares."

"The children are easily triggered whenever the situation is brought up or unannounced guests arrive at the property, and she spends a significant amount of time counseling and comforting them," it continues. 

As CBN News reported, Houck was charged by the Department of Justice with counts of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act after he shoved a pro-abortion volunteer escort who was harassing his young son outside an abortion clinic in Philadelphia.

Houck was acquitted on all charges in January. If the jury sided with the Biden Administration, Houck would have faced up to 11 years in prison and a $350,000 fine.

Houck and his wife previously told The Daily Signal they believe they were targeted by the Biden DOJ to intimidate, silence, and scare the family for their pro-life work—praying outside abortion clinics for the women headed inside to abort their unborn babies.

Houck's lawsuit describes the arrest as an "unnecessary and unlawful show of force," and he accuses the agency of intentionally seeking to assault him and deprive him of his Fourth Amendment rights "by using excessive force to arrest him on non-violent charges when he had not threatened law enforcement, did not own a gun, and had offered to turn himself in to authorities if indicted."

Houck seeks $1.1 million for malicious prosecution, retaliatory prosecution, false arrest, abuse of process, and assault. Ryan-Marie is seeking $3.25 million in damages for herself and her children.

40 Days for Life is representing Houck and his wife. 

Shawn Carney, president of the pro-life organization, says the lawsuit sends a warning to the Biden administration.

"This lawsuit will send a strong message to the DOJ that the United States of America does not belong to (Attorney General) Merrick Garland or the FBI; it belongs to all Americans, despite our many disagreements on different issues," Carney said. "We all believe that we should have the right to free speech and be protected from unlawful infringement by our own government."

"Mark and his wife have valid and critical claims against the government that raided their house and pointed guns at them and their screaming children. Mark, his wife, and their seven children have been devastated by this horrific event, which should never have happened if not for the bigotry of our compromised DOJ," he added. 

READ FBI Unexpectedly Shows Up to Childhood Home of Pro-Life Activists: 'They See Me as a Threat'