In what a pro-life activist called a piece of intimidation, two FBI agents went to the home of her mother saying they wanted to ask her some questions.
The April 18 incident was caught on a doorbell video camera at the home in Woodbridge, Virginia, and posted to Twitter on Wednesday by reporter Mary Margaret Olohan, who wrote about it in The Daily Signal.
The video shows women who identified themselves as FBI agents Ashley Roberts and Kathleen Brown visiting the former home of Elise Ketch, a member of the Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising.
Ketch was among several PAAU members arrested in March after a protest near the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington. The protest concerned five dead babies whose remains were found in a medical waste bin in March 2022, according to Live Action.
“We just need to speak with her regarding some information that was sent in to us,” Roberts said in the clip.
“She’s not in any trouble,” the agent said. “We just have information that we need to ask her about.”
NEW: FBI agents Ashley Roberts and Kathleen Brown showed up at the childhood home of pro-life activist Elise Ketch. The agents asked to speak with Ketch, who is a member of @PAAUNOW.
Here's the Ring security camera footage, first obtained by @Dailysignal: pic.twitter.com/QoY2HL9ytA
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) May 17, 2023
Ketch’s mother wanted to take photos of the agents’ badges, but Roberts told her that was not allowed.
“We would tell you all the information because, like I said, she’s not in any trouble, but just out of respect for her, we’d like to speak with her first and then, if she feels like talking to you, which I’m sure she will because it’s nothing,” Roberts said.
A second video shared by Olohan shows a brief call from Ketch’s mother to Ketch.
“I have two FBI agents at the front door,” she said.
“FBI agents?” Ketch said in response.
“Yes,” her mother said.
“Mom, don’t tell them anything,” Ketch said.
Elise's mom called her, the footage shows.
"I have two FBI agents at the door."
"FBI agents?? Mom, don't tell them anything." pic.twitter.com/6MfPPbbveC
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) May 17, 2023
Ketch told The Daily Signal she has “no idea what information the FBI was sent.”
“My colleague at Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising, Lauren Handy, is indicted under the FACE Act and is being prosecuted by the federal government,” she said, referring to the law that bans protests at abortion clinics that are ruled to prevent access to abortions. “It’s plausible that these FBI agents aimed to collect information from me to help build their case against her.
“While they reassured my mother that I was not in trouble, it’s also possible that they see me as a threat due to my pro-life activism and intended to investigate me.”
Ketch said she was unaware of any case involving her.
“Yet, to my knowledge, they never attempted to follow up with me or my attorney, so I believe the FBI’s true motive behind their visit to my parents’ home was to intimidate me and my team,” she said, adding, “I refuse to back down.”
“This weaponization of our government institutions protects the abortion industrial complex, and it reinforces that we must disrupt these unjust power structures,” Ketch said.
“The most prevalent domestic threat to our country is the murder of thousands of preborn people by abortion each day. It is not terrorism to nonviolently intervene and rescue these powerless children before their slaughter. I’m willing to risk my own freedom and sacrifice my rights in order to secure theirs,” she said.
Elise doesn't live at her mother's house anymore. But the visit made her concerned for her family's safety.
"I believe the FBI’s true motive behind their visit to my parents’ home was to intimidate me and my team.”https://t.co/T6fczMW2lF
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) May 17, 2023
PAAU founder Terrisa Bukovinac also addressed the incident.
“The FBI is targeting PAAU members because our activism challenges the property lines of and disrupts commerce for the abortion industrial complex,” she said. “We are especially a problem for them because we are nonviolent and therefore our efforts and ideas are rapidly catching on.”
The Daily Signal reported the FBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
