The Man Accused Of Attacking Nancy Pelosi's Husband Allegedl

Federal and local prosecutors charged David DePape, 42, with crimes including assault, attempted kidnapping, attempted murder, threats to a public official and their family, and residential burglary.

The guy accused of breaking into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s domestic and attacking her husband with a hammer went there seeking out her and planned to kidnap her and smash her kneecaps, in line with a federal indictment released Monday.

David DePape, 42, had “zip ties, tape, rope, and at the least one hammer” with him, in step with the indictment, and turned into “organized to detain and injure Speaker Pelosi” following the break-in at their San Francisco home early Friday morning.

“DePape stated that he was going to hold Nancy hostage and talk to her,” the indictment says. “If Nancy have been to tell DePape the ‘truth,’ he would allow her move, and if she ‘lied,’ he turned into going to interrupt ‘her kneecaps.’ DePape became positive that Nancy would now not have informed the ‘reality.'”

In an interview with the FBI, DePape allegedly stated he “viewed Nancy as the ‘leader of the percent’ of lies informed via the Democratic Party,” and “that by using breaking Nancy’s kneecaps, she could then should be wheeled into Congress, which would display other Members of Congress there had been outcomes to movements.”

DePape is now facing each state and federal expenses for the attack. Federal prosecutors have charged him with one rely of “attack of a right away family member of a United States official with the reason to retaliate towards the reliable because of the performance of legitimate responsibilities” in addition to one depend of “tried kidnapping of a United States official due to the overall performance of respectable responsibilities.” If convicted, he could be sentenced to as much as 50 years in jail.

The San Francisco district lawyer’s workplace additionally charged DePape on Monday with attempted homicide, attack with a lethal weapon, elderly abuse, false imprisonment of an elder, threats to a public professional and their own family, and residential burglary. He faces 13 years to life in jail if convicted of the country costs, meantime District Attorney Brooke Jenkins stated during a information conference.

According to the federal indictment, DePape entered Paul Pelosi’s bedroom at the same time as the speaker’s husband turned into asleep and “said he wanted to speak to ‘Nancy.'” When informed she was not there and would not be home for several days, DePape stated “he would sit and wait.” (The speaker become in Washington, DC, at the time.)

The speaker’s husband become in a position to name 911 from the bathroom, telling the dispatcher at 2:23 a.M. That there was a person inside the house who stated he became going to await the speaker to go back. Police arrived at the home much less than 10 minutes later, and determined the speaker’s husband and the suspect “each holding a hammer with one hand,” with DePape “conserving onto Pelosi’s forearm” with his other hand.

When officials requested DePape to drop the hammer, he allegedly “pulled the hammer from Pelosi’s hand and swung the hammer, striking Pelosi in the head.” Officers then restrained DePape, whilst Pelosi “seemed to be unconscious at the floor.”

According to a movement to detain with out bail filed by means of San Francisco prosecutors on Tuesday, Pelosi “remained unresponsive for about three minutes” and awoke in “a pool of his very own blood.”

DePape knew that Pelosi had called the police, in keeping with the indictment, but allegedly advised investigators he didn’t leave “because, similar to the American founding fathers with the British, he changed into combating in opposition to tyranny with out the choice of surrender.”

Pelosi, 82, suffered trauma to the top and body from being “critically crushed” throughout the hammer attack, in step with two people with understanding of the research, the AP said.

The speaker’s husband “is receiving incredible hospital therapy and is predicted to make a full restoration,” Drew Hammill, a spokesperson for her workplace, said in a statement. He was admitted to Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital on Friday morning in which he efficiently underwent surgical treatment to repair a skull fracture and “extreme accidents” to his right arm and fingers, consistent with the speaker’s spokesperson.

“The Speaker and her circle of relatives are thankful for the outpouring of help and prayers from buddies, ingredients and those across the us of a,” Hammill said. “The Pelosi circle of relatives is immensely grateful to Mr. Pelosi’s entire scientific crew and the law enforcement officials who responded to the assault.”

Speaking to journalists Monday afternoon, Jenkins stated it changed into clear from DePape’s statements while in the Pelosi residence that the attack was politically motivated.

“We recognize that there have been tragedies in this very metropolis of political leaders in the beyond, and so it’s some thing that we must take very severely,” Jenkins stated, possibly referring to the 1978 assassinations of Mayor George Moscone and San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk. “It’s very unhappy to peer that we are once more at a point in history wherein human beings accept as true with that it’s OK to explicit their political sentiments via violence.”

In the motion to detain, Jenkins’s workplace said DePape informed officials and medics on the scene that he turned into “unwell of the insane fucking stage of lies popping out of Washington, D.C.” and that while he didn’t want to harm the speaker’s husband he became on “a suicide task.”

“Hurting him became no longer my intention,” DePape stated, in step with the document. “I told him before I attacked him, that he is escalating things, and I will undergo him if I ought to.”

CNN reported that DePape had shared social media posts espousing debunked conspiracy theories, including that COVID vaccines are lethal, the 2020 election turned into stolen, and that police did not murder George Floyd. Two blogs — seemingly written via someone named David DePape — were full of racist, antisemitic, and other bigoted statements, and pushed conspiracy theories about how “the elites/ruling class” censor records.

A spokesperson for the San Francisco Police Department could not verify to BuzzFeed News whether police agree with the suspect wrote the content, however his daughter informed the Los Angeles Times that at least one of the blogs changed into his. DePape is estranged from his own family, family individuals advised CNN.

Baseless conspiracy theories have circulated because the attack, consisting of one Elon Musk promoted on Twitter simply days after buying the platform. On Sunday, Musk tweeted a link to a publish from a fake news website called the Santa Monica Observer that claimed DePape is a male intercourse employee who become in a dispute with Paul Pelosi, who was inebriated.

The claim has no foundation, and the post made no effort to confirm it. The Santa Monica Observer — which falsely portrays itself as a information outlet — has posted outrageous fake information memories in the past, in line with the Los Angeles Times, such as ones that claimed Hillary Clinton died and a frame double changed into used to debate Donald Trump in 2016, that Trump appointed Kanye West to the Department of the Interior, and that daylight ought to therapy COVID-19 sufferers.

Musk later deleted the tweet. In her Sunday information convention, Jenkins said she was privy to such conspiracy theories and firmly pushed again in opposition to them. There is “nothing to signify that these  men knew each other prior to this incident,” she said.

“I suppose there wishes to be a admire for what that family has persisted, what Mr. Pelosi has continued and is improving from,” Jenkins stated.

According to officers, DePape gained entry into the speaker’s home via breaking through a rear glass door. Jenkins stated there was no security gift on the time of the ruin-in.

DePape regarded in court on Tuesday along with his proper arm in a sling as he entered a plea of no longer guilty. His court docket-appointed legal professional, deputy public defender Adam Lipson, instructed journalists after the listening to that DePape dislocated his shoulder for the duration of his arrest.

Jenkins stated on Monday that her office deliberate to record the movement to detain him with out bail because of “obvious and extreme public protection risks.” According to the movement, DePape advised Paul Pelosi he couldn’t “be stopped” and had other targets.

“Violence has no region on this town,” she stated, “and we can work vigorously to hold the defendant accountable.”