Joe Biden's Department of Justice is now targeting pro life Americans. Mark Hoke is a father of seven. He's a husband. He is a co founder and president of The King's Men, which is a Catholic ministry that aims to mentor young Catholic men. He often peacefully protests outside of abortion clinics, just trying to encourage women to choose life, to make a different decision, to know that there are other options besides death, besides murdering your child. But on September twenty three, in front of his wife, in front of his seven children, the FBI showed up. They showed up at his home in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. They shut up with ballistic shields with long guns, battering Ram and arrested Mark. They charged them under the Federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, otherwise known as the FACE Act. So the question is why, and when you go through the facts of the case, it makes no sense. When you go through the facts, there's so many discrepancies with the Department of Justice's claims in the indictment. We're going to go through the facts of this case with Mark's attorney, Matt Fron who works for the Thomas Morris Society, a pro life organization. We're going to go through the facts so you have them, so you can share them and you can bring this information to others, because what is happening in America is wrong. What the Department of Justice, what Merrick Garland is doing, is evil. This is evil in America, the targeting of pro life Americans. And it's not just this case either. The Department of Justice also charged eleven pro life advocates with federal charges related to a two thousand one protest at a Tennessee abortion clinic. Where were they when people were fire bombing pro life centers in America? Where were where we're Where was the FBI when churches were burnt down? There weren't any arrest in those cases. But you're going to target an American citizen for being pro life, you know what they're trying to do, Just like they're going after people who question the election to make them shut up, to get conservatives to no longer question elections. It's the same thing here. They want you, if you believe in life, if you're pro life, to shut up. Don't you dare ago and try to encourage young women to make a different decision. Don't you dare try to encourage young women to choose life. It's despicable and it's wrong. We're gonna talk to Matt Heffron about the facts of the case and we're gonna bring it all to you, So stay tuned for this interview with Matt Heffron, who's representing Mark Coke. So math first of all, as pro life Americans, it's horrendous and sad. What happened to your client Mark. He's a father of seven, husband, the co founder and president of The King'smen, a Catholic ministry that aims to spiritually mentor young Catholic men. He peacefully protests outside of abortion clinics. Tell us a little bit about your client and the work that he's done. Well, sure, Li says I heard you describe him. I just think to myself, chuckling to myself, that's your gonna have a defendant to represent. You can't think of one much more sympathetic, nicer guy than than Mark Haalk. I mean, we always that all of our clients were so uh, such good people, and we'll we'll vibe so well with the with the jury. Mark is u is a guy. If you talk to him, he's just a kind, kind hearted guy. Uh. He and his wife raising seven kids. UH. Really developed Catholics. No violence in his background at all. U. And he has devoted his life trying to improve the response of men, particularly to be better fathers and husbands. UM. He spends a couple of days a week, at least one day a week driving to Philadelphia where he stands up peacefully on the corner outside of an abortion clinic, oftentimes saying the Rosary as he was in the day in question, and engaging people in conversation. UM. And never in his wildest dreams. I don't think did he ever thought. I think he'd see fully armed federal agents storming his house as he got up in the morning. Has happened just last last month, and and that was on September. And I want to get to that day. But I want to start at where this begins, because the FBI charged them under the Federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. It stems back to October two thousand twenty one. He was accused of pushing a man, Bruce Love, after Bruce verbally harassed Mark's awe year old son Take us through what happened on that day on October and no, many of them uh would actually chain themselves to the door of abortion clinics and barricade the door and so on and so forth, coming and you sit in so that the abortion clinics could not operate while they were there. And the idea was to shut them down for a day or two. Uh, And it was very effective. And eventually the federal government, including a lot of pro life Republicans, assigned on the Space Act, the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which gave real draconian uh penalties for anyone who did that, including jail time and and so on and so forth. Uh. It has been really aggressively pursued both under the Obama administration and even now more under the Biden administration to attack provif ers. Um and so um. What happened to this cause? You asked for a chronology, Here's where I'll start, and you stop me. I'm going on too long. But um in well, for for years Mark has been going to this clinic and praying peacefully outside. And four years various of the abortion activists outside of the clinic they called themselves escorts, sometimes they're called death escorts. But variously these abortion activists made it their reason to be there to try to disrupt the prayer, to get in the face of the pro life people, to try to egg them on. And this is going on across all over the country. We get calls all the time on absolutely outlandish and outrageous activities by these death course and it was happening there in Philadelphia as well. So Mark Howk was well known to the abortion activist whose name is Bruce Love. And on the day in question, Mark happened to be across the street from the abortion clinic, and he engaged a young woman in front of the conversation and basically escorted her towards the UH, the building across the street from the clinic, which is a pregnancy resource center, that is, people are offering alternatives to abortion. And as they were walking down the street towards the pregnancy resource center, Bruce Love darted across from the abortion clinic and pushed himself in between Mark and a young woman and then failed to get out of the way. And there may or may not have been a little bit of shoving there, but nothing, nothing untour, no big deal. Uh And and then later in the day after that brief incident, Um Mark was standing on the corner fifty ft from the inn entrance of the abortion clinic, and he was standing in the corner quietly praying his rosary with his twelve year old son, and was typical of the activities, particularly of this Bruce Love. Um was that Bruce typically would come and then start harassing a little boy. And he often thought Bruce Love was notorious for saying obscene, just vulgar things, uh in front of women and children who were praying on the sidewalk, And this was no There was just typical day for Bruce and he started harassing and saying really nasty things to the little boy about his father. And finally Mark how care clients, said that was enough of that and told him and knowing certain turn terms, to leave his little boy alone. And boost Love started to walk away, and then he came back again to give the little boy some more harassment. And at that point, Mark I think, like any father, had had enough and gave boost Love a shell and boost happened to fall down. You can see all this a second incident on a video. Boosts happened to fall down, got right back up, no parentage at all, and went inside and then called the police. And the police arrived and they talked to the parties and they saw the scrape and that's all. It was a scrape on Boost's arm. And they say they sat told everyone there, there's nothing for us here. We're leaving no charges to be filed. And that's the common sense approach, that's what you'd expect. And that's where it should have ended. Um, not even a misdemeanor assault under Pennsylvania law. But Pennsylvania has a peculiar provisionally peculiar to me UM, and that is where they all allow people to file what are known as private liminal actions as opposed to civil action, which is for damages or criminal actions. And so boot Love went down to the courthouse and filed a private criminal action and there for minor infractions like this. Uh. And that should have ended in some sort of mediation where a judge and the parties talking out. UH. But on five different occasions the judge scheduled this for a mediation. On five different occasions, Boost Love did not show up. Mark how showed up every time, and finally the judge in questions said, well you know this is nonsense, and I'm going to dismiss the case. And the case was dismissed shortly after. That was when I got involved because the federal government now, seeing that neither the state government considered this a misdemeanor assault, and that even the lower level judge dismissed the case on the private criminal complaint. Now the federal government steps in, deciding that this is really a federal case, and they send our client mark how what's as a target letter? And a target letter tells the person who gets it that you're probably going to get indicted. Would you like to come in and testify? No, no client in the right mind, and certainly no white color defense attorney as I used to be whenever let their client come in and talk. But what you do, and what I did was called the federal prosecutor and I called her once she didn't answer, So a few days later I called again, and a few days later she still hadn't answered. Quite honestly, I've never had that happened to me before, and so I thought, well, if she did send a target letter, and maybe I better I sent her better get in touch with her by writing if she's not courteous enough to answer my phone calls, and so I wrote her an email, and in the email, I stated what the law was right in her very courthouse. And we knew what that law was because I'm a member of the Thomas More Society and a couple of our other attorneys had been involved in the very case three years previously, under almost the exact same facts in which a federal court, a federal judge in that courthouse said, these facts do not amount to a face prosecution. And so I know at that point that the federal prosecutor knew that case. It's called Ellentown Abortion Center of Allentown Center versus so p c O. I knew she knew about that case. And I also did something typically I always did for my white colored clients, and that is tell the federal prosecutor that if you disagree with me, and if you're going to indict my client, please just let me know, and I will accept the summons to court on behalf of my client, will set a date and we'll walk our guy and he'll come in voluntarily. And in all of my career, some twenty years after I left the Federal Prosecutor's office, twenty years as a defense attorney, I have never had a federal prosecutor not honor that this is the first time in this case. On the twenty three, UM, I got a phone call the first time I heard from this particular federals here, and she's calling me only to tell me that they had already arrested my client and that he would have an initial appearance in court in an hour and a half. And of course I'm not on site in Philadelphia, so it's impossible for me. But that is walking through, if you will, the facts. Um, the facts that have gotten most notoriety we haven't talked about yet, and that is the actual arrest of Mark how quick commercial break back with Matt Heffron. So, Matt, my understanding is the first time you heard from the U S Attorney and Needy Eve was three months after you reached out saying hey, we'll work with you in a voluntary basis. I think my emails on June ninth, and if if the initial appearances on the twenty three, that would be the like the time. Yeah. Also my understanding, the Federalist has done great job reporting of this, Margot Cleveland, and it seems like with what the Justice Descartment wrote in their indictment are in contradiction to the facts. For instance, it alleges that your client Mark shoved Bruce Love to the ground as he attempted to escort to Planned Parenthood patients. However, in the private state criminal complaint filed by Love, he was waiting for clients. Can you talk about the discrepancy and why it's important to the case. Yeah, face under which this case was charred. The freedom of access to clinic entrances at only deals with such things as interfering, harassing, Uh, in order to stop women from engaging in reproductive health. And if there are no women there, Uh, there was no one there who was trying to engage and reproductive health. H, then there could not be a face violation. And I told you one of these two instances was captured on the security camera of the abortion clinic. And clearly there is no one, no no women approaching, no one approaching the abortion clinic for any sort of reproductive abortion services. So um, they have a major problem there. There's another incident. I don't know if the Federalist article COVID this or not. Another discrepancy, and that is that Bruce Love said in his private criminal complaint that he wrote out that he was trying to walk away when he got shoved, and the clinic video shows real clearly he was walking towards Mark's son, towards where Mark and the Sun were when Mark engaged in the second time, because he'd already told him to leave the Sun alone. So yeah, there there's some major discrepancies there. And uh, we're very confident in this case these are bad facts and bad law for the Department of Justice. And I say that with a little bit of a wu in that it should be the Department of Injustice as far as I'm concerned. The way they're using, um uh, the space statue to to basically attacked Biden administration opponents, if you will, people who are clearly not in line with the Biden administrations radical pro abortion ideology. Well, and it seems like pretty basic facts to mess up as well important facts to mess up. I want to get to the day of the arrest September and estimated of fifteen police vehicles, about twenty law enforcement officers, ballistic shields, long guns, and battering ram descended on Mark's home in front of his wife, in front of his seven children talk about that day. I imagine that had been incredibly traumatic for the family. Yeah, I was on the phone a couple of times with Ryan read that they complete shot to them. Although in the abortion context anymore, you've gotta be ready for the unexpected. Um. But nonetheless, who would have thought that when they when he was willing to come in at any time, that they would show upon his doorstep at seven o'clock in the morning. Also, I mean, if you really wanted to find Mark Howk and wanted to arrest him in with the least amount of trouble, Uh, probably the best place to find him would be there on the corner outside the abortion clinic, where he's known to be quite off night praying his rod. So there's no reason, none whatsoever to make this arrest at seven o'clock in the morning and storm in with with that sort of firepower. I can tell you I used to be in charge of one of the criminal units for the Federal Prosecutor's unit in Phoenix, Arizona. I was the lead attorney for their organized crime drug enforcement unit. Uh. The only time we went in with this sort of our power was when number one, UH, the defendant potential defendant was a dangerous person and had known proclivity for violence, or number two was a flight risk. Now think of those two things in comparison to Mark how and absolutely peaceful religious guy, no violence has passed whatsoever, and the second of all flight risk with seven kids. Are you kidding? So there's no reason, no reason to do this other than uh that this is the way they Department of Injustice now is willing to punish. Uh, it's political opponents, people who do not fall fall into the correct ideology. And it also coite honestly discussed this a bit among ourselves. This is is apparently meant to send a message to pro lifers, to peaceful citizens. I mean, I I know a lot of these people, and uh, buying law are every single one I've ever met was a peaceful, prayer, prayerful sort of person. Uh, these are not people who have dangerous in the least. And so the environment of justice now is is being used used as a political weapon against common citizens. Well, and it also seems completely unnecessary considering the fact you already reached out why the use of force when you already volunteered to work with them and to connect with them Alight, in my my view, that was not only a professional discourtesy to me, but extreme unprofessionalism with the Department of Justice. Uh. If if an attorney says I will bring my client in, and there's no reason to think he won't, UH, then you uh both being officers of the court of law and we are UH, then you will respect that other attorney and let him do his job just as he expects you to do yours. Um. There's no there's no basis, there's no reason for what happened to this case other than people who are devotees to uh I think a radical ideology and who have left their lost their sense of professionalism and certainly a professional courtesy. How did the FBI treat him when they arrested him. Of course, they were trying to bang it bang down his door to start with. And I should back up a little bit in the fact, just in case some of your listeners don't know, uh, but it was at seven o'clock in the morning, which is typical of how h you storm in on violent offenders just as they're getting out of bed, and rightfully, just the the how family was doing just that and they were just getting out of bed. Mark was downstairs getting a cup of coffee. Ryan Marie, the wife, said her heet had barely hit the floor after getting out of bed. When you hear all this commotion going on downstairs, and of course say, I'll go down towards the stairs and Mark us to the door. And people are yelling FBI banging on the door so much that uh, Ryan Brine said that it looked like the doors have already to break open. And Mark was yelling, please, I'll open the door. I'll open the door. Remember, I've got my babies inside. Is that twice? I've got babies in here? And he opened the door, and as he opened the door, guns long guns were pointed at him, at his face and his wife, and kind of sweeping the room where the kids were. Of course, the kids would never ever expected this, and the while the streams that they're dead would be cheated like this are screaming to high heaven. And these fully armed fifteen to twenty FBI agents said, and actually members also of local police departments come storming in and grab Mark, eventually handcuffed him, put manels on his feet. I'm laughing because it's so ridiculous, uh, And and he stayed manacled up the whole day. They brought him down to I think is the Marshall's office, Uh, and they chained him to a table as if he was some danger and left in there pretty much all day until his initial appearance. And here's another factory at least, So it just shows what a sham this all was. Uh. They had decided in advance to let him be released without bail. And that is that that they call that own your released on your own recognizance. Uh. That is, uh, if only for those people you know are not dangerous and are not flight risk. Otherwise you acquire some sort of bail and sometimes sizeable amount of bail money that they had to put down before they can be released from jail to assure that they will return. So the federal government knew in advance, well, they knew all along that there was no violence here, no no flight risk. But they were doing this simply to make a statement. Well, they made a statement, and it's one I think that is a little bit shocking for common citizens of this country to realize that that's what the Department of Justice has come too. And I guess I'll just follow up on that. I was a Federal prosecute for a number of years, and quite honestly, in those days in the nineteen nineties, I was proud of the position and we followed UH the established UH protocols of the office, whether or not those protocols had been established in other administrations, try and survive there. During the demost democratic administration, both Republican and democratic, and the Democratic U S Attorney, the Democratic U S Attorney followed the I remember the Thornburg Thornburg Document, various protocols that have been established under Republican regimes. We were we were officers of the court first, and we were dedicated the idea of justice. This administration, my UM contacts with it as well as during the Obama administration, seems more politically inclined, and that's a danger. What are the next steps for you guys? Where in the courts do you think this will go? Yeah? The case has been set for trial in January, and I UH, in all the years when I was both a federal prosecutor and UH white color defense attorney, I never once saw a case go on the first trial setting. But our people UH tell us that the judge seems willing to let us get this case tried in January, and uh, I will be happy if they can actually get it done in January. Uh. And quite honestly, I think that, uh, the defense will prevail in this case, will win, and it may even get bounced out on on a court motion, because as I said, these facts have already been ruled in that very district not to support a face case. Um so um. Either it will be some sort of pre trial jurisdictional motion, or at the end of the state's case, the defense will make a motion that there is no violation of any law under the facts presented by the government. But either way there's a decent chance, a good chance that this will actually go to trial, and uh we're looking forward to it. Well. And of course where are the arress with the targeting and the terrorism directed towards pro life centers. Yeah, that's a great point. Um kind of is in stark relief with the way that the Gardland regime is employing the Face Act against pro lifers. Uh. The same Face Act applies to pro life pregnancy resource centers, and that is that anyone who uses force to harass intimidates on and so forth. Uh, those in even pro life reproductive health centers could be prosecuted. And as you know that there have been at least at last I saw seventy reported incidents of of attacks against pro life centers, including a fire bombing of one or two and really really who violence as opposed to the shoving incidence of Mark how and other shoving instances that the Department of Justice also sued H is pursuing across the country as opposed of those are actually rather laughable small instances. We have true violence against the pregnancy resource centers and as yet, as yet not a single uh UH arrested and made concerning any of those true violence against against the pro life centers. So that's kind of a dark, dark comparison. But apparently the Department of Justice under Garlic Garlic Mark Garland, I'm sorry, HASH has no interest in UH in employing this law if it's UH to defend its political opponents. Well, and the Department of Justice has also charged eleven pro life advocates with the same charges with federal charges in Tennessee related to a two twenty one protest. So to your point, it certainly seems like the d o J is trying to send a chilling message to Americas to our pro life at least a we're that Thomas More Society is representing Mark howk Um and that the group I'm with, and we're also representing at least one, if not more of the Nashville defendants as well. And that's another instance where it's a relatively minor peaceful protests, the very same sort of thing that that fueled the civil rights marches, the Sacra Gaha, if you will, of of Mohamed uh of Mahan, dis gandhi Um. The same sort of civil protests, civil disobedience happened in Nashville. And it's not, you know, not a serious event, not something that you would go and again arrest the father of his family in front of his children. And they did the same thing, the same thing there in Tennessee quick break more on the Mark Hook case. Am I missing any of the facts of this case? I just want to make sure that people can listen to this and understand exactly what's going on and what they need to know. Well, I suppose one factor the case is and this is maybe a relatively minor matter, but uh, in my look at the facts, it looks like the aggressor here the boost Love. The abortion activist may have even been attempting in the second instance to try to get it on camera, because the first instance was across the street, wasn't on the security camera, and and so they don't they didn't have it as as good of facts on that side. So he came back in a few minutes later. You can see him in the bottom of the screen. He's actually talking with another abortion activists before he goes to her asked Mark's son, and that same abortion activist then comes running out a few minutes later, So she's been watching the whole thing. Um, And so it looks like um at this boost love and did the second or or instigated the second instance on purpose to try to get it on camera. It was right down to at least these are simple facts. I mean, this is not a complicated case. This is it's almost silly to talk about. This is a little shoving match outside of an abortion clinic because one man got another man's face, and that since his face got his son's face, that is not a federal crime by anybody's um, anybody's description. And uh so it's silly that we're even talking about it, but it's being used you know the factor of being used in order to try to go after American citizens who happened to be of the pro life contingent. And where can people go to help? Yeah, two places actually, um Mark how has set up a defense on go fund to me for it a case and uh so you can find that online. And then also the Thomas Moore Society. You can go to Thomas More Society dot org and Morris Billed M O R E. Thomas More Society dot org. We are representing quite a few of these people in various parts of the country right now. We're and of course Philadelphia, We're in Tennessee, We're in d c all on similar sort of cases, and we represent pro lifers across the country on other cases as well. Matt half Ron with the Thomas More Society, I appreciate the work that you're doing. What is happening to Mark is wrong, and thank you for bringing this case to the show and giving us her time. Good keep up the good work. Always happy that that was Matt f Run with the Thomas Morris Society, representing Marco who is being viciously targeted by the FBI. Uh it's a sad reflection of what's going on in America. But it makes sense when you see what the Department of Justice has done and even targeting parents and essentially labeling them terrorists, or you know, Joe Biden going on stage and labeling seventy five million Americans as enemies of the state. So it's it's a sad place where we are. But I appreciate what Matt is doing, and I appreciate you for listening to the show every Monday, every Thursday, but you can listen throughout the week. Leave us review, rate US five stars on Apple Podcast. I want to thank John Cassio and my producer for putting the show together, and as always, thank you so much for listening.

Joe Biden's Department of Justice is now targeting pro life Americans. Mark Hoke is a father of seven. He's a husband. He is a co founder and president of The King's Men, which is a Catholic ministry that aims to mentor young Catholic men. He often peacefully protests outside of abortion clinics, just trying to encourage women to choose life, to make a different decision, to know that there are other options besides death, besides murdering your child. But on September twenty three, in front of his wife, in front of his seven children, the FBI showed up. They showed up at his home in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. They shut up with ballistic shields with long guns, battering Ram and arrested Mark. They charged them under the Federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, otherwise known as the FACE Act. So the question is why, and when you go through the facts of the case, it makes no sense. When you go through the facts, there's so many discrepancies with the Department of Justice's claims in the indictment. We're going to go through the facts of this case with Mark's attorney, Matt Fron who works for the Thomas Morris Society, a pro life organization. We're going to go through the facts so you have them, so you can share them and you can bring this information to others, because what is happening in America is wrong. What the Department of Justice, what Merrick Garland is doing, is evil. This is evil in America, the targeting of pro life Americans. And it's not just this case either. The Department of Justice also charged eleven pro life advocates with federal charges related to a two thousand one protest at a Tennessee abortion clinic. Where were they when people were fire bombing pro life centers in America? Where were where we're Where was the FBI when churches were burnt down? There weren't any arrest in those cases. But you're going to target an American citizen for being pro life, you know what they're trying to do, Just like they're going after people who question the election to make them shut up, to get conservatives to no longer question elections. It's the same thing here. They want you, if you believe in life, if you're pro life, to shut up. Don't you dare ago and try to encourage young women to make a different decision. Don't you dare try to encourage young women to choose life. It's despicable and it's wrong. We're gonna talk to Matt Heffron about the facts of the case and we're gonna bring it all to you, So stay tuned for this interview with Matt Heffron, who's representing Mark Coke. So math first of all, as pro life Americans, it's horrendous and sad. What happened to your client Mark. He's a father of seven, husband, the co founder and president of The King'smen, a Catholic ministry that aims to spiritually mentor young Catholic men. He peacefully protests outside of abortion clinics. Tell us a little bit about your client and the work that he's done. Well, sure, Li says I heard you describe him. I just think to myself, chuckling to myself, that's your gonna have a defendant to represent. You can't think of one much more sympathetic, nicer guy than than Mark Haalk. I mean, we always that all of our clients were so uh, such good people, and we'll we'll vibe so well with the with the jury. Mark is u is a guy. If you talk to him, he's just a kind, kind hearted guy. Uh. He and his wife raising seven kids. UH. Really developed Catholics. No violence in his background at all. U. And he has devoted his life trying to improve the response of men, particularly to be better fathers and husbands. UM. He spends a couple of days a week, at least one day a week driving to Philadelphia where he stands up peacefully on the corner outside of an abortion clinic, oftentimes saying the Rosary as he was in the day in question, and engaging people in conversation. UM. And never in his wildest dreams. I don't think did he ever thought. I think he'd see fully armed federal agents storming his house as he got up in the morning. Has happened just last last month, and and that was on September. And I want to get to that day. But I want to start at where this begins, because the FBI charged them under the Federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. It stems back to October two thousand twenty one. He was accused of pushing a man, Bruce Love, after Bruce verbally harassed Mark's awe year old son Take us through what happened on that day on October and no, many of them uh would actually chain themselves to the door of abortion clinics and barricade the door and so on and so forth, coming and you sit in so that the abortion clinics could not operate while they were there. And the idea was to shut them down for a day or two. Uh, And it was very effective. And eventually the federal government, including a lot of pro life Republicans, assigned on the Space Act, the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which gave real draconian uh penalties for anyone who did that, including jail time and and so on and so forth. Uh. It has been really aggressively pursued both under the Obama administration and even now more under the Biden administration to attack provif ers. Um and so um. What happened to this cause? You asked for a chronology, Here's where I'll start, and you stop me. I'm going on too long. But um in well, for for years Mark has been going to this clinic and praying peacefully outside. And four years various of the abortion activists outside of the clinic they called themselves escorts, sometimes they're called death escorts. But variously these abortion activists made it their reason to be there to try to disrupt the prayer, to get in the face of the pro life people, to try to egg them on. And this is going on across all over the country. We get calls all the time on absolutely outlandish and outrageous activities by these death course and it was happening there in Philadelphia as well. So Mark Howk was well known to the abortion activist whose name is Bruce Love. And on the day in question, Mark happened to be across the street from the abortion clinic, and he engaged a young woman in front of the conversation and basically escorted her towards the UH, the building across the street from the clinic, which is a pregnancy resource center, that is, people are offering alternatives to abortion. And as they were walking down the street towards the pregnancy resource center, Bruce Love darted across from the abortion clinic and pushed himself in between Mark and a young woman and then failed to get out of the way. And there may or may not have been a little bit of shoving there, but nothing, nothing untour, no big deal. Uh And and then later in the day after that brief incident, Um Mark was standing on the corner fifty ft from the inn entrance of the abortion clinic, and he was standing in the corner quietly praying his rosary with his twelve year old son, and was typical of the activities, particularly of this Bruce Love. Um was that Bruce typically would come and then start harassing a little boy. And he often thought Bruce Love was notorious for saying obscene, just vulgar things, uh in front of women and children who were praying on the sidewalk, And this was no There was just typical day for Bruce and he started harassing and saying really nasty things to the little boy about his father. And finally Mark how care clients, said that was enough of that and told him and knowing certain turn terms, to leave his little boy alone. And boost Love started to walk away, and then he came back again to give the little boy some more harassment. And at that point, Mark I think, like any father, had had enough and gave boost Love a shell and boost happened to fall down. You can see all this a second incident on a video. Boosts happened to fall down, got right back up, no parentage at all, and went inside and then called the police. And the police arrived and they talked to the parties and they saw the scrape and that's all. It was a scrape on Boost's arm. And they say they sat told everyone there, there's nothing for us here. We're leaving no charges to be filed. And that's the common sense approach, that's what you'd expect. And that's where it should have ended. Um, not even a misdemeanor assault under Pennsylvania law. But Pennsylvania has a peculiar provisionally peculiar to me UM, and that is where they all allow people to file what are known as private liminal actions as opposed to civil action, which is for damages or criminal actions. And so boot Love went down to the courthouse and filed a private criminal action and there for minor infractions like this. Uh. And that should have ended in some sort of mediation where a judge and the parties talking out. UH. But on five different occasions the judge scheduled this for a mediation. On five different occasions, Boost Love did not show up. Mark how showed up every time, and finally the judge in questions said, well you know this is nonsense, and I'm going to dismiss the case. And the case was dismissed shortly after. That was when I got involved because the federal government now, seeing that neither the state government considered this a misdemeanor assault, and that even the lower level judge dismissed the case on the private criminal complaint. Now the federal government steps in, deciding that this is really a federal case, and they send our client mark how what's as a target letter? And a target letter tells the person who gets it that you're probably going to get indicted. Would you like to come in and testify? No, no client in the right mind, and certainly no white color defense attorney as I used to be whenever let their client come in and talk. But what you do, and what I did was called the federal prosecutor and I called her once she didn't answer, So a few days later I called again, and a few days later she still hadn't answered. Quite honestly, I've never had that happened to me before, and so I thought, well, if she did send a target letter, and maybe I better I sent her better get in touch with her by writing if she's not courteous enough to answer my phone calls, and so I wrote her an email, and in the email, I stated what the law was right in her very courthouse. And we knew what that law was because I'm a member of the Thomas More Society and a couple of our other attorneys had been involved in the very case three years previously, under almost the exact same facts in which a federal court, a federal judge in that courthouse said, these facts do not amount to a face prosecution. And so I know at that point that the federal prosecutor knew that case. It's called Ellentown Abortion Center of Allentown Center versus so p c O. I knew she knew about that case. And I also did something typically I always did for my white colored clients, and that is tell the federal prosecutor that if you disagree with me, and if you're going to indict my client, please just let me know, and I will accept the summons to court on behalf of my client, will set a date and we'll walk our guy and he'll come in voluntarily. And in all of my career, some twenty years after I left the Federal Prosecutor's office, twenty years as a defense attorney, I have never had a federal prosecutor not honor that this is the first time in this case. On the twenty three, UM, I got a phone call the first time I heard from this particular federals here, and she's calling me only to tell me that they had already arrested my client and that he would have an initial appearance in court in an hour and a half. And of course I'm not on site in Philadelphia, so it's impossible for me. But that is walking through, if you will, the facts. Um, the facts that have gotten most notoriety we haven't talked about yet, and that is the actual arrest of Mark how quick commercial break back with Matt Heffron. So, Matt, my understanding is the first time you heard from the U S Attorney and Needy Eve was three months after you reached out saying hey, we'll work with you in a voluntary basis. I think my emails on June ninth, and if if the initial appearances on the twenty three, that would be the like the time. Yeah. Also my understanding, the Federalist has done great job reporting of this, Margot Cleveland, and it seems like with what the Justice Descartment wrote in their indictment are in contradiction to the facts. For instance, it alleges that your client Mark shoved Bruce Love to the ground as he attempted to escort to Planned Parenthood patients. However, in the private state criminal complaint filed by Love, he was waiting for clients. Can you talk about the discrepancy and why it's important to the case. Yeah, face under which this case was charred. The freedom of access to clinic entrances at only deals with such things as interfering, harassing, Uh, in order to stop women from engaging in reproductive health. And if there are no women there, Uh, there was no one there who was trying to engage and reproductive health. H, then there could not be a face violation. And I told you one of these two instances was captured on the security camera of the abortion clinic. And clearly there is no one, no no women approaching, no one approaching the abortion clinic for any sort of reproductive abortion services. So um, they have a major problem there. There's another incident. I don't know if the Federalist article COVID this or not. Another discrepancy, and that is that Bruce Love said in his private criminal complaint that he wrote out that he was trying to walk away when he got shoved, and the clinic video shows real clearly he was walking towards Mark's son, towards where Mark and the Sun were when Mark engaged in the second time, because he'd already told him to leave the Sun alone. So yeah, there there's some major discrepancies there. And uh, we're very confident in this case these are bad facts and bad law for the Department of Justice. And I say that with a little bit of a wu in that it should be the Department of Injustice as far as I'm concerned. The way they're using, um uh, the space statue to to basically attacked Biden administration opponents, if you will, people who are clearly not in line with the Biden administrations radical pro abortion ideology. Well, and it seems like pretty basic facts to mess up as well important facts to mess up. I want to get to the day of the arrest September and estimated of fifteen police vehicles, about twenty law enforcement officers, ballistic shields, long guns, and battering ram descended on Mark's home in front of his wife, in front of his seven children talk about that day. I imagine that had been incredibly traumatic for the family. Yeah, I was on the phone a couple of times with Ryan read that they complete shot to them. Although in the abortion context anymore, you've gotta be ready for the unexpected. Um. But nonetheless, who would have thought that when they when he was willing to come in at any time, that they would show upon his doorstep at seven o'clock in the morning. Also, I mean, if you really wanted to find Mark Howk and wanted to arrest him in with the least amount of trouble, Uh, probably the best place to find him would be there on the corner outside the abortion clinic, where he's known to be quite off night praying his rod. So there's no reason, none whatsoever to make this arrest at seven o'clock in the morning and storm in with with that sort of firepower. I can tell you I used to be in charge of one of the criminal units for the Federal Prosecutor's unit in Phoenix, Arizona. I was the lead attorney for their organized crime drug enforcement unit. Uh. The only time we went in with this sort of our power was when number one, UH, the defendant potential defendant was a dangerous person and had known proclivity for violence, or number two was a flight risk. Now think of those two things in comparison to Mark how and absolutely peaceful religious guy, no violence has passed whatsoever, and the second of all flight risk with seven kids. Are you kidding? So there's no reason, no reason to do this other than uh that this is the way they Department of Injustice now is willing to punish. Uh, it's political opponents, people who do not fall fall into the correct ideology. And it also coite honestly discussed this a bit among ourselves. This is is apparently meant to send a message to pro lifers, to peaceful citizens. I mean, I I know a lot of these people, and uh, buying law are every single one I've ever met was a peaceful, prayer, prayerful sort of person. Uh, these are not people who have dangerous in the least. And so the environment of justice now is is being used used as a political weapon against common citizens. Well, and it also seems completely unnecessary considering the fact you already reached out why the use of force when you already volunteered to work with them and to connect with them Alight, in my my view, that was not only a professional discourtesy to me, but extreme unprofessionalism with the Department of Justice. Uh. If if an attorney says I will bring my client in, and there's no reason to think he won't, UH, then you uh both being officers of the court of law and we are UH, then you will respect that other attorney and let him do his job just as he expects you to do yours. Um. There's no there's no basis, there's no reason for what happened to this case other than people who are devotees to uh I think a radical ideology and who have left their lost their sense of professionalism and certainly a professional courtesy. How did the FBI treat him when they arrested him. Of course, they were trying to bang it bang down his door to start with. And I should back up a little bit in the fact, just in case some of your listeners don't know, uh, but it was at seven o'clock in the morning, which is typical of how h you storm in on violent offenders just as they're getting out of bed, and rightfully, just the the how family was doing just that and they were just getting out of bed. Mark was downstairs getting a cup of coffee. Ryan Marie, the wife, said her heet had barely hit the floor after getting out of bed. When you hear all this commotion going on downstairs, and of course say, I'll go down towards the stairs and Mark us to the door. And people are yelling FBI banging on the door so much that uh, Ryan Brine said that it looked like the doors have already to break open. And Mark was yelling, please, I'll open the door. I'll open the door. Remember, I've got my babies inside. Is that twice? I've got babies in here? And he opened the door, and as he opened the door, guns long guns were pointed at him, at his face and his wife, and kind of sweeping the room where the kids were. Of course, the kids would never ever expected this, and the while the streams that they're dead would be cheated like this are screaming to high heaven. And these fully armed fifteen to twenty FBI agents said, and actually members also of local police departments come storming in and grab Mark, eventually handcuffed him, put manels on his feet. I'm laughing because it's so ridiculous, uh, And and he stayed manacled up the whole day. They brought him down to I think is the Marshall's office, Uh, and they chained him to a table as if he was some danger and left in there pretty much all day until his initial appearance. And here's another factory at least, So it just shows what a sham this all was. Uh. They had decided in advance to let him be released without bail. And that is that that they call that own your released on your own recognizance. Uh. That is, uh, if only for those people you know are not dangerous and are not flight risk. Otherwise you acquire some sort of bail and sometimes sizeable amount of bail money that they had to put down before they can be released from jail to assure that they will return. So the federal government knew in advance, well, they knew all along that there was no violence here, no no flight risk. But they were doing this simply to make a statement. Well, they made a statement, and it's one I think that is a little bit shocking for common citizens of this country to realize that that's what the Department of Justice has come too. And I guess I'll just follow up on that. I was a Federal prosecute for a number of years, and quite honestly, in those days in the nineteen nineties, I was proud of the position and we followed UH the established UH protocols of the office, whether or not those protocols had been established in other administrations, try and survive there. During the demost democratic administration, both Republican and democratic, and the Democratic U S Attorney, the Democratic U S Attorney followed the I remember the Thornburg Thornburg Document, various protocols that have been established under Republican regimes. We were we were officers of the court first, and we were dedicated the idea of justice. This administration, my UM contacts with it as well as during the Obama administration, seems more politically inclined, and that's a danger. What are the next steps for you guys? Where in the courts do you think this will go? Yeah? The case has been set for trial in January, and I UH, in all the years when I was both a federal prosecutor and UH white color defense attorney, I never once saw a case go on the first trial setting. But our people UH tell us that the judge seems willing to let us get this case tried in January, and uh, I will be happy if they can actually get it done in January. Uh. And quite honestly, I think that, uh, the defense will prevail in this case, will win, and it may even get bounced out on on a court motion, because as I said, these facts have already been ruled in that very district not to support a face case. Um so um. Either it will be some sort of pre trial jurisdictional motion, or at the end of the state's case, the defense will make a motion that there is no violation of any law under the facts presented by the government. But either way there's a decent chance, a good chance that this will actually go to trial, and uh we're looking forward to it. Well. And of course where are the arress with the targeting and the terrorism directed towards pro life centers. Yeah, that's a great point. Um kind of is in stark relief with the way that the Gardland regime is employing the Face Act against pro lifers. Uh. The same Face Act applies to pro life pregnancy resource centers, and that is that anyone who uses force to harass intimidates on and so forth. Uh, those in even pro life reproductive health centers could be prosecuted. And as you know that there have been at least at last I saw seventy reported incidents of of attacks against pro life centers, including a fire bombing of one or two and really really who violence as opposed to the shoving incidence of Mark how and other shoving instances that the Department of Justice also sued H is pursuing across the country as opposed of those are actually rather laughable small instances. We have true violence against the pregnancy resource centers and as yet, as yet not a single uh UH arrested and made concerning any of those true violence against against the pro life centers. So that's kind of a dark, dark comparison. But apparently the Department of Justice under Garlic Garlic Mark Garland, I'm sorry, HASH has no interest in UH in employing this law if it's UH to defend its political opponents. Well, and the Department of Justice has also charged eleven pro life advocates with the same charges with federal charges in Tennessee related to a two twenty one protest. So to your point, it certainly seems like the d o J is trying to send a chilling message to Americas to our pro life at least a we're that Thomas More Society is representing Mark howk Um and that the group I'm with, and we're also representing at least one, if not more of the Nashville defendants as well. And that's another instance where it's a relatively minor peaceful protests, the very same sort of thing that that fueled the civil rights marches, the Sacra Gaha, if you will, of of Mohamed uh of Mahan, dis gandhi Um. The same sort of civil protests, civil disobedience happened in Nashville. And it's not, you know, not a serious event, not something that you would go and again arrest the father of his family in front of his children. And they did the same thing, the same thing there in Tennessee quick break more on the Mark Hook case. Am I missing any of the facts of this case? I just want to make sure that people can listen to this and understand exactly what's going on and what they need to know. Well, I suppose one factor the case is and this is maybe a relatively minor matter, but uh, in my look at the facts, it looks like the aggressor here the boost Love. The abortion activist may have even been attempting in the second instance to try to get it on camera, because the first instance was across the street, wasn't on the security camera, and and so they don't they didn't have it as as good of facts on that side. So he came back in a few minutes later. You can see him in the bottom of the screen. He's actually talking with another abortion activists before he goes to her asked Mark's son, and that same abortion activist then comes running out a few minutes later, So she's been watching the whole thing. Um, And so it looks like um at this boost love and did the second or or instigated the second instance on purpose to try to get it on camera. It was right down to at least these are simple facts. I mean, this is not a complicated case. This is it's almost silly to talk about. This is a little shoving match outside of an abortion clinic because one man got another man's face, and that since his face got his son's face, that is not a federal crime by anybody's um, anybody's description. And uh so it's silly that we're even talking about it, but it's being used you know the factor of being used in order to try to go after American citizens who happened to be of the pro life contingent. And where can people go to help? Yeah, two places actually, um Mark how has set up a defense on go fund to me for it a case and uh so you can find that online. And then also the Thomas Moore Society. You can go to Thomas More Society dot org and Morris Billed M O R E. Thomas More Society dot org. We are representing quite a few of these people in various parts of the country right now. We're and of course Philadelphia, We're in Tennessee, We're in d c all on similar sort of cases, and we represent pro lifers across the country on other cases as well. Matt half Ron with the Thomas More Society, I appreciate the work that you're doing. What is happening to Mark is wrong, and thank you for bringing this case to the show and giving us her time. Good keep up the good work. Always happy that that was Matt f Run with the Thomas Morris Society, representing Marco who is being viciously targeted by the FBI. Uh it's a sad reflection of what's going on in America. But it makes sense when you see what the Department of Justice has done and even targeting parents and essentially labeling them terrorists, or you know, Joe Biden going on stage and labeling seventy five million Americans as enemies of the state. So it's it's a sad place where we are. But I appreciate what Matt is doing, and I appreciate you for listening to the show every Monday, every Thursday, but you can listen throughout the week. Leave us review, rate US five stars on Apple Podcast. I want to thank John Cassio and my producer for putting the show together, and as always, thank you so much for listening.