Catholic pro-life activist Mark Hook and his spouse, Ryan Marie Hook, are searching for $4.3 million in damages from the Biden administration, accusing the Justice Division and the FBI of concentrating on him due to his anti-abortion views.
Mr. Hook is searching for $1.1 million in damages for malicious and retaliatory prosecution, false arrest, abuse of course of, and assault, citing a September 2022 raid on his rural Pennsylvania house in entrance of his spouse and 7 kids by at the very least a dozen closely armed males. FBI brokers.
His spouse is suing for $3.25 million for extreme emotional and bodily misery culminating in three miscarriages attributable to “the stress of the FBI’s conduct and ensuing prosecution,” in response to a discover of declare filed with the division’s torts department.
“The stress of those occasions has had an incredible impression on her physique – so vital that she has had three miscarriages because of the stress,” the discover stated. “Docs have now recognized her with infertility. So, alongside the shock, paranoia and anxiousness she skilled, she now carries the grief of dropping three kids and the ache of infertility.
Mr. Hawk was charged final yr with violating the Freedom of Entry to Clinic Entrances Act for shoving a Deliberate Parenthood volunteer in October 2021 after the person twice confronted him and yelled at his 12-year-old son whereas they had been doing sidewalk consultations for a close-by pro-life being pregnant middle.
Native authorities refused to prosecute. A Philadelphia jury acquitted him of federal prices in January.
“On data and perception, the aim of the declare was to punish Mr. Hook and different pro-life advocates and volunteers at pro-life clinics, and to suppress spiritual speech and workout routines, which senior management on the Division of Justice deemed ‘predatory.’” The 28-page declare reads: “ “The FACE Act doesn’t deserve constitutional protections, it’s essential for punishment.”
The Hawks’ case is being dealt with by the Legislation and Justice Institute at 40 Days for Life, a pro-life group with which Mr. Hawk has volunteered since 2007.
Sean Carney, chief government of 40 Days for Life, stated Mr Hook’s arrest was “greater than only a horrible day for Mark Hook”.
“It was a foul day for America. It was a foul day for you and your loved ones. It was a foul day for me and my household,” he stated in a video. “As a result of the abuse of our federal authorities is at an all-time excessive. The blatant bigotry and new hatred that the Division of Justice brings Towards pro-life Individuals and Catholic Individuals is a current and harmful phenomenon.
🧵In a historic transfer, 40 Days for Life serves the Division of Justice with a powerful message: Intimidation of pro-life activists won’t be tolerated. Our lawsuit for Mark Hook’s rights is a protection of all Individuals’ proper to free speech with out worry. Discover out why @carneyshun 📺⬇️ pic.twitter.com/JfLeIKwtnC
— 40 Days for Life (@40daysforlife) November 8, 2023
The lawsuit, filed by attorneys from Graves Garrett LLC in Kansas Metropolis, Missouri, was dated Oct. 30, however the authorized motion was introduced Wednesday.
the The administration has not commented publicly on Hawkes’ declare.
The criticism comes because the Biden administration is accused of bias for aggressively pursuing FACE Act prices towards at the very least 34 pro-life protesters within the wake of the Supreme Court docket’s 2022 Dobbs choice.
In the meantime, the administration has introduced solely a handful of prices in almost 90 assaults on pro-life being pregnant facilities, together with arson, smashing home windows and threatening graffiti messages like “If abortion is not protected, neither are you.”
Legal professional Common Merrick Garland acknowledged the disparity at a Senate listening to in March, however stated pro-choice vandals are more durable to catch as a result of they function at night time in secret, in contrast to pro-life protesters.
“There are a variety of prosecutions in relation to abortion middle closures, however that is usually as a result of these actions are captured on images at the moment, through the day, and it’s totally straightforward to see the one who did it,” Garland stated. portray.
