For several years beginning twenty years ago, Mark stood outside an abortion clinic praying with and counseling young women. Despite being harassed by pro-abortion activists, Mark and his 11 year old son were there in October 2021 giving hope and courage to young women.
Mark had several run-ins with activists and on October 13, 2021, one individual, 72 year old Bruce Love started to corner Mark’s son and harass him, Mark stepped in as would any father. Mr. Love continued to get between Mark and his son and it became a small shoving contest.
Mark thought little of the issue, but the activist filed an assault charge against Mark. When it was presented to a local judge, the judge said it did not rise to the level worthy of prosecution and promptly dismissed the complaint. Again, Mark dismissed the incident; little did he know that his ordeal had just begun.
A federal prosecutor revived the complaint and filed a federal complaint against Mark. Mark received a letter from the prosecutor but no action was initiated in the immediate time frame and again, Mark dismissed the issue thinking that it would go no further.
On a September morning in 2022 at a little after Six in the morning, Mark was awakened with some one pounding on the front door demanding that he open the front door. Mark says they did not immediately identify themselves as FBI agents and only did so when he asked who they were. When he opened the door he immediately saw a number of FBI agents and several local law enforcement personnel on his front porch and front yard. They were armed and pointed weapons at him demanding the he surrender to them. Mark’s wife asked if they had a warrant and was told they were going to arrest Mark, with or without a warrant.
Mark, as he opened the door, was not dressed nor was he allowed to get dressed and was taken into custody in only a robe and flip flops. He was hand cuffed and shackled, lead to a car and driven to a building where he was chained to a table and interrogated of and on for approximately 9 hours before being released to his family. Before his release he was charged with violation of the FACE ACT (Freedom to Access of Clinic Entrances), an abortion clinic and assault on Bruce Love.
The FACE ACT makes it a felony to use force with the intent to injure, intimidate and interfere with anyone that produces reproductive health care, namely an abortion clinic.
Mark denied the charges and pleaded not guilty. He faced 11 years in prison plus an assault charge for simply protecting his son from harassment by a belligerent older man.
January 30, 2023, Mark was acquitted of the charges by the jury, after being offered a plea deal that would drop the felony charges and no jail time showing the shallowness of the charges and federal complaint against him. Mark’s wife said the he would not be welcomed back at home if he accepted the scurrilous deal.
Mark’s attorney, Peter Breen said that this prosecution was an outrageous abuse of power and an effort to silence people who believe in the sanctity of life and a violation of their religious beliefs.
If this narrative seems somewhat shallow, I had heard very little about this issue until it aired this morning on Steve Bannon’s show the “War Room” aired of “Real America’s Voice”. The entire affair reeks of intimidation of Christians and the drive by the powers that be to force people to remain quiet and not raise issues that interfere with the drive to make abortion legal. As for me, this only reinforces my resolve to resist this drive to marginalize Christians and their beliefs.