FBI Responds to Reports That ‘SWAT Team’ Was Used to Arrest Pro-Life Activist in Front of Children

The FBI on Monday responded to media reports and claims that it sent a SWAT team to raid the Pennsylvania home of pro-life activist Mark Houck.

“There are inaccurate claims being made regarding the arrest of Mark Houck. No SWAT Team or SWAT operators were involved,” the FBI Philadelphia office told The Epoch Times. “FBI agents knocked on Mr. Houck’s front door, identified themselves as FBI agents, and asked him to exit the residence. He did so and was taken into custody without incident pursuant to an indictment.”

When reached for comment, the bureau did not directly address claims made by Houck’s wife, Ryan-Marie Houck, that agents had their guns drawn and pointed them at her and Mark Houck, however.

“While it’s the FBI’s standard practice not to discuss such operational specifics, we can say that the number of personnel and vehicles widely reported as being on scene Friday is an overstatement, and the tactics used by FBI personnel were professional, in line with standard practices, and intended to ensure the safety of everyone present in and outside the residence,” the statement said.

The FBI also did not address an allegation that their children could see the arrest and “were all just screaming” while the arrest was being carried out. The bureau’s comment to The Epoch Times on Monday also appears to be a boilerplate FBI statement that was sent to other news outlets about Houck’s arrest.

The agents “had big, huge rifles pointed at Mark and pointed at me and kind of pointed throughout the house,” Ryan-Marie Houck told LifeSite News. “Our staircase is open, so [the kids] were all at the top of the stairs which faces the front door, and I was on the stairs as well, coming down,” she said. “The kids were all just screaming. It was

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