"The kids were all just screaming. It was all just very scary and traumatic," Ryan-Marie Houck told LifeSiteNews about her husband's arrest, which she and her children witnessed. She says her husband pleaded with the FBI agents to be calm, referencing the couple's seven children.

"They had big, huge rifles pointed at Mark and pointed at me and kind of pointed throughout the house," Ryan-Marie Houck told the pro-life news outlet.

Catholic News Agency reports that the FBI confirmed that Mark Houck was arrested outside his home "without incident" Friday morning. 

According to federal court documents, Houck was arrested on the charge that he assaulted a 72-year-old volunteer, whose name is not provided, at the Planned Parenthood Elizabeth Blackwell Health Center abortion clinic in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, twice on Oct. 13, 2021.

The District Court in Philadelphia investigated and dismissed the charge earlier this summer, Houck's wife, Ryan-Marie, told LifeSiteNews. She said that her husband sometimes brought their eldest son with him. She added that on multiple occasions that a "pro-abortion protestor" would say "crude ... inappropriate and disgusting things" to their 12-year-old son, such as "your dad's a fag" and other vulgar slurs.

Her husband repeatedly told the man to stop verbally harassing his son, Ryan-Marie Houck explained. But the man didn't stop. On one occasion, the man "kind of came into [the son's] personal space," Ryan-Marie Houck said. "Mark shoved him away from his child, and the guy fell back... He didn't have any injuries or anything, but he tried to sue Mark."

State Sen. Doug Mastriano, who is the Republican candidate for governor in Pennsylvania,  released a statement following Houck's arrest. "The continued weaponization of the FBI and persecution by Joe Biden's DOJ against ordinary Americans is an outrage," Mastriano wrote, adding:

"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."

After his Friday arrest, Houck appeared before the US Eastern District Court in Pennsylvania. He was indicted for violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which "makes it a federal crime to use force with the intent to injure, intimidate, and interfere with anyone because that person is a provider of reproductive health care," the Eastern District ofPennsylvania US Attorney's Office wrote in a Friday press release.  

Authorities released Houck later that day, but he now faces felony charges. If convicted, Houck could have up to an 11-year prison sentence, and fines of up to $350,000.

Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts tweeted Saturday: "As I've said, the Mar-a-Lago raid isn't just about President Trump—it's about all of us." (The Daily Signal is the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation.)

"Saying that doesn't make someone an insurrectionist—if anything, it's the DOJ that's 'threatening democracy,'" he added. Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

A GiveSendGo campaign for the Houck family has raised over $127,000.

Gillian Richards is a journalism fellow at The Daily Signal. 

To receive daily emails from Breaking Christian News to your inbox CLICK HERE

The Undercroft: The New Museum Located Underneath the Lincoln Memorial Opens in Time for America's 250th Birthday (Video)

Samaritan's Purse Sending Help to Venezuela after Devastating Earthquakes

Postmaster General Tells Congress USPS Will NOT DELIVER Mail-In Ballots to States That Refuse to Comply with President Trump's Election Integrity Executive Order

US Forces Kill ISIS Leader in Syria Airstrike: CENTCOM

Senate GOP Reverses Course, Rejecting War Powers Resolution after Trump Meeting

Here's What Trump Demanded from Republican Senators Behind Closed Doors

Obama Judge Permanently Blocks Trump's Proof of Citizenship Requirement to Vote; Appeal Coming

SCOTUS Decides How Far States May Regulate Concealed Carry in Public

Supreme Court Rules on Endless 'Temporary Protected Status' for Aliens

Strongest Earthquakes in More Than a Century Hit Venezuela, Causing Widespread Damage, Injuries and Death; Trump Says US Ready to Help

Texas Judge Wins Big After Faith-Based Stand on Marriage, Awarded $640K

'HEINOUS': White House Condemns Judge's Order Mandating 'Woke' Ideology at National Parks

Antifa Members Convicted in Texas ICE Attack Sentenced to Lengthy Prison Terms

New York City's Socialist 'Tsunami' Is Only the Latest Weirdness from the Big Apple

Trump Declares 'National Emergency,' Demands Housing Overhaul Bill Be Scrapped in SAVE Act Push

Senate RINOS Too Busy Scolding Trump to Pass Voter ID Bill

Lebanon a Major Sticking Point in US-Iran Discussions as Rubio Visits UAE to Reassure Allies on MoU

Biden DEA Let 1M Fentanyl Pills Flow to Streets, Whistleblower Lawyer Says

Supreme Court: Border Officers Can Suspend Criminal Illegals' Permanent Status

How China Is Poisoning America With Parkinson's