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The FBI and Department of Justice could care less about the escalating attacks on pro-life pregnancy centers or violence against anti-abortion activists. But don’t dare oppose the pro-choice movement or Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray will come down on you with the full force of the federal government like a ton of bricks.
What happened to Catholic pro-life activist Mark Houck is just the latest example of the thuggish tactics employed by the DOJ and FBI in their unequal application of the law that frequently targets conservatives.
Houck, a deeply religious founder of a ministry that mentors young Catholic men, was arrested at his Pennsylvania home by a phalanx of FBI agents last Friday. His wife says they pounded on the door at around 7 am and pointed guns at her husband while his seven frightened children looked on.
The Bureau disputes that a heavily armed SWAT team descended on the house. But there is no justifying the level of force that was deployed over a relatively minor offense that supposedly occurred a year ago.
PENNSYLVANIA PRO-LIFE ACTIVIST ARRESTED BY FBI, CHARGED WITH ASSAULTING CLINIC ESCORT
In September of 2021, Houck was involved in a verbal confrontation with a patient escort outside a Planned Parenthood clinic in Philadelphia. The disagreement evolved into a shoving match, although it is unclear which individual was the aggressor.
Pro-abortion extremist group Jane's Revenge targeted the wrong address at first when attempting to vandalize Jackson Right to Life's office building. (Photo courtesy of Kathy Potts) (Photo courtesy of Kathy Potts)
The alleged victim sued for money damages, but the case was tossed out by a District Court, according to Ryan-Marie Houck. That’s when Garland decided to resurrect the case and bring criminal charges against her husband. Instead of contacting his attorney to have his client turn himself in, a swarm of FBI agents came banging on his door to handcuff him in front of his kids.
This constitutes the definition of an excessive display of force that was wholly disproportionate to the circumstances. Sadly, this is what government agents do these days —especially if you are a conservative or advocate on behalf of life.
Garland and Wray have weaponized law enforcement to persecute and prosecute political adversaries while protecting partisan allies. Parents who complain at school board meetings are treated as "domestic terrorists." But demonstrators who shout ugly threats outside the homes of conservative Supreme Court justices in clear violation of the law are never subject to arrest.
ZERO ARRESTS IN AT LEAST 17 JANE'S REVENGE ATTACKS ON PRO-LIFE ORGANIZATIONS
Equal justice under the law is a farce. If the roles were reversed and liberal justices were threatened, Garland and Wray would see to it that every last protester is behind bars.
There has been a significant uptick in violence on pro-life pregnancy clinics across the nation, many of them claimed by the left-wing pro-abortion group Jane’s Revenge. Among the 17 arson and vandalism attacks, Garland and Wray have made zero arrests.
Not that they are even trying. It is apparently acceptable to firebomb a pro-life clinic, but don’t argue with a pro-choice operator or the Biden administration will use its immense power and unlimited resources to come after you with a vengeance.
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Recently, an 83-year-old pro-life volunteer in Michigan was shot as she canvassed her neighborhood to discuss an abortion ballot proposal. In North Dakota, a man used his SUV to mow down and kill a teenager because he believed the young man belonged to a Republican extremist group, although there is no evidence of that, say police.
Planned Parenthood location in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Google Maps)
It is no surprise that such violence is on the rise, given the incendiary rhetoric by politicians in Washington. It is not just the provocative rants of Senators Chuck Schumer and Elizabeth Warren who stood outside the Supreme Court and fueled the abortion issue rage. Others like Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii and Rep. Tim Ryan, who is running for an open Senate seat in Ohio, have escalated the bombast with reckless language that borders on inciting violence. As noted in a New York Post column, Hirono said that fighting pro-lifers "is literally a call to arms." Ryan intoned, "We have to kill and confront that (extremist) movement."
They take their cues from the top. President Joe Biden has shredded all semblance of civility in politics. The man who vowed to unify American has become the divider-in-chief.
He has called Republicans a threat to democracy, a clear and present danger to the republic, and semi-fascists, whatever that means. Not to be outdone, Hillary Clinton now compares Trump supporters to Nazis.
The greatest peril to democracy today is not a foreign force, but the abuse of power within. Those who operate under the color of authority lurk in the shadows and do the bidding of the party in control.
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Senior officials at the FBI and Department of Justice have commandeered these once esteemed agencies and become a law unto themselves. They have chosen to exploit their vast powers for political reasons. The end justifies any means.
In a government of laws, Garland and Wray treat the rule of law with contempt.
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Gregg Jarrett is a Fox News legal analyst and commentator, and formerly worked as a defense attorney and adjunct law professor. He is the author of the No. 1 New York Times best-selling book "The Russia Hoax: The Illicit Scheme to Clear Hillary Clinton and Frame Donald Trump." His latest book is the New York Times bestseller "Witch Hunt: The Story of the Greatest Mass Delusion in American Political History"
