Mark pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to charges levied by the DOJ, and his attorneys decried the Biden administration's method of executing a warrant.
Mark is 48 years old and is the co-founder of a ministry called The King's Men, a Catholic ministry aimed at mentoring young men.
The charges reference an altercation Mark had with a Planned Parenthood clinic escort on Oct. 13, 2021. Mark's wife, Ryan-Marie, told LifeSiteNews that Mark drives to Philadelphia every Wednesday to volunteer as a sidewalk counselor. On some of these trips, Mark would bring his 12-year-old son with him.
Ryan-Marie said that the 72-year-old escort would repeatedly approach Mark's son and say "crude... inappropriate and disgusting things," such as "you're dad's a fag," and other vulgar statements. Mark told the escort that he did not have permission to speak with Mark's son, but the escort would not relent. The escort kept coming into the son's personal space and shouting obscenities.
Eventually, Mark interposed himself between the escort and his son. As Mark shoved the escort away, the man fell back. DOJ prosecutors allege that Mark shoved the escort to the ground two times during this altercation, which is why it charged Mark with two violations of the FACE Act.
The FACE Act creates criminal penalties for obstructing access to abortion businesses through violence, physical obstruction, or threats. The law also creates penalties for acts of violence targeting abortion businesses, pregnancy centers, or their employees because of the services they provide.
The Thomas More Society, which announced Monday that it will represent Mark in court, argues that Mark's actions don't violate the FACE Act. Mark's actions did not target the escort due to his affiliation to the abortion clinic. They were in defense of Mark's son. Additionally, Thomas More Society attorneys won a case in June of 2019 establishing that one-off altercations cannot form the basis for FACE Act violations.
Brian Middleton, a spokesperson for the family, told CNA that both the city police and the district attorney declined to file charges after the incident occurred last year. The escort filed a private criminal complaint in Philadelphia municipal court, but the case was dismissed in July after the escort repeatedly failed to appear in court.
Peter Breen, Mark's attorney, criticized the Biden administration for the way that it handled charges. Breen told Fox News on Tuesday that his team contacted the DOJ and the US Attorney's Office back in June to inform them they had no case based on controlling precedent. Breen's team told the DOJ that if the DOJ decided to indict, Mark would willingly respond to summons. Rather than send a court summons, however, the Biden administration made a show of force.
"This is a political prosecution," Breen told Fox News. "And what’s clear from the Department of Justice at its highest levels, which is directing this case, [is] that they are trying to send a message to pro-life and people of faith: ‘Don’t mess with us.’ They want to intimidate — they want to cause good people like Mark to stop praying and counseling at the abortion clinics of our country. And that’s not going to happen."
If convicted, Mark could face up to 11 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $350,000. As of Tuesday evening, a GiveSendGo fundraiser raised over $284,000 to help the Houck family with expenses.
