A pro-life father arrested by armed FBI in front of his children reacted to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s claim that Democrats aren’t locking up pro-life activists.
Paul Vaughn of Tennessee previously told The Daily Signal that the FBI showed up with “guns pointed at the door, banging on the house, yelling and screaming, ‘Open up. FBI.’” They arrested him and charged him with “conspiracy against rights secured by the FACE Act, and committing FACE Act violations.”
If convicted, the father of 11 children could spend 11 years in prison and face a fine of up to $250,000.
But on Monday, Jean-Pierre emphatically and repeatedly told reporters that “it’s a lie” that Democrats are “locking up pro-life activists,” as former President Donald Trump reportedly claimed at a Thursday rally.
“Clearly that’s not true,” she said. “I’m not going to say much more than that. It’s just not true. It’s false. It’s a lie. It’s not true.”
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“Clearly, Jean-Pierre doesn’t know how to define truth and lies,” Vaughn told The Daily Signal, adding that her remarks are “not surprising” since she “doesn’t know the difference between a man and a woman, between a peaceful protest and an insurrection, and between inflation and deflation.”
“I suppose since they are not persecuting me I don’t have to show up for court on Jan. 10 to defend myself,” Vaughn added.
“In the meantime,” he said, “it is a shame the House [Judiciary] Committee wasted 1,000 pages documenting all the evidence of these facts, only to find out ‘it is simply not true.’ Perhaps, Jean Pierre could be more specific. Which piece of the 1,000-page report is not true?”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Daily Signal.
Video provided to The Daily Signal in early October by Vaughn, taken by his wife, shows FBI agents outside the family’s home. Vaughn’s wife follows them, videotaping their conversation.
“I wanna know why you were banging on my door with a gun,” she says. “Are you not going to tell me anything?”
“No, we are not,” one agent replies, while another adds, “I tried.”
“No, you didn’t!” she shouts back. “You did not try.”
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Vaughn’s arrest came as the the Justice Department announced it had charged 11 more pro-life activists with violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act for blocking the entrance of an abortion clinic in 2021.
The 11 activists, including Vaughn, were charged with FACE Act violations stemming from their 2021 “blockade” of an abortion clinic in Mount Juliet, Tennessee. That blockade was reportedly peaceful.
News of Vaughn’s arrest came amid national outcry over the dramatic arrest of Mark Houck, a Catholic father and pro-life activist who was reportedly dramatically arrested by armed FBI agents in front of his family for allegedly pushing a pro-abortion activist who allegedly harassed his son.
At least 86 Catholic churches and 74 pregnancy resource centers and other pro-life organizations have been attacked since the May leak of the draft Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, according to a Catholic Vote tracker.
Many of these buildings have been vandalized with threats such as, “If abortions aren’t safe, neither are you,” making the attacks incidents of suspected pro-abortion violence.
A list of recent cases on the Justice Department website indicates that the DOJ has not prosecuted a single attack on a pro-life organization or church under the FACE Act.
That list includes seven enforcements of the FACE Act in 2022 alone against pro-life activists: The DOJ has charged 26 individuals with FACE Act violations since the beginning of the year.
The Justice Department has refused to explain this discrepancy to The Daily Signal.
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