Federal authorities on Monday filed attempted kidnapping and assault charges against the alleged home invader accused of striking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband with a hammer in front of police officers, claiming he wanted to break her kneecaps to send a message to other Democrats.
Feds charge alleged Pelosi attacker with attempted kidnapping
The new court papers offer a horrifying summary of Pelosi’s 82-year-old husband, Paul Pelosi, being woken up in the middle of the night by a strange man at his bed, demanding to know where his wife was. When Paul Pelosi said she would not be back at the home for days, DePape allegedly said he would wait.
At some point during their confrontation, Paul Pelosi was able to get to a bathroom and call 911, which brought police officers to the scene, the court papers said.
When the door to the home was opened, the responding officers saw a strange situation: the elderly resident opened the door, but he was simultaneously holding onto a hammer in DePape’s hand, while DePape gripped Paul Pelosi with his other hand, according to court papers.
Officers told the men to drop the hammer, at which point DePape allegedly wrested the tool free and struck Paul Pelosi with it in the head, knocking him unconscious, the affidavit said.
After he was taken into custody, DePape allegedly said he planned to “hold Nancy hostage and talk to her,” according to the charging papers. “If Nancy were to tell ‘the truth,’ he would let her go, and if she ‘lied’ he was going to break ‘her kneecaps’,” the charging papers said.
In the confession, which authorities say was recorded, DePape allegedly claimed he was certain Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) would not tell the truth. According to the affidavit filed by an FBI agent, DePape allegedly claimed Nancy Pelosi was the “leader of the pack” of lies told by the Democratic Party, and that if he broke her kneecaps “she would then have to be wheeled into Congress, which would show other Members of Congress there were consequences to actions.”
The suspect also claimed that he wanted to “use Nancy to lure another individual to DEPAPE,” the affidavit said, without identifying who that other individual might be.
DePape was charged with attempting to kidnap a federal official — Nancy Pelosi — and assaulting an immediate relative of a federal official, Paul Pelosi.
As of Monday, Paul Pelosi was recovering in Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital following surgery for a fractured skull and other injuries from the attack early Friday. He is expected to make a full recovery.
The new charges come as Republicans and others on the right amplified misinformation and outright falsehoods about last week’s violent assault on Paul Pelosi.
The innuendo about the attack that billionaire Elon Musk and right-wing personalities spread on social media this past weekend showed no signs of abating Monday, as elected officials and other conservatives perpetuated wild theories.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) retweeted a thread from far-right activist Matt Walsh challenging the notion that the alleged assailant was a militant right winger despite his blog in which he appears to have been deeply drawn into election falsehoods and political conspiracy theories.
Cruz quoted the thread dismissing DePape as “a hippie nudist from Berkeley” with one word: “truth.”
Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) tweeted and deleted a post late Sunday that pushed a conspiracy theory about the violent attack and included a photo of Nancy Pelosi.
Terrence K. Williams, a conservative comedian who spoke at the White House during the Trump presidency, tweeted false information about Paul Pelosi and the suspect.
And Donald Trump Jr., son of the former president, tweeted images that highlighted the falsehood on Halloween.
Police identified DePape, who has written pro-Trump and anti-Democratic posts on his blog, as the suspect. San Francisco Police Chief William Scott would not speculate on a motive for the attack, but it appears that the assailant had been looking for the speaker, and he uttered “Where’s Nancy,” according to a person briefed on the case.
“This was not a random act. This was intentional,” Scott told reporters Friday.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins was expected to announce charges against DePape on Monday, including attempted murder and assault.
The Washington Post confirmed that a voluminous blog written under DePape’s name was filled with deeply antisemitic writings and baseless claims, as well as pro-Donald Trump and anti-Democratic posts. It was registered to a house in Richmond, Calif., where DePape lives, according to neighbors.
Nancy Pelosi made her first public comments about the matter on Saturday night in a “Dear Colleague” letter to members of Congress, referring to how “a violent man broke into our family home, demanded to confront me and brutally attacked my husband Paul.”
She thanked supporters, saying that “the outpouring of prayers and warm wishes from so many in the Congress is a comfort to our family and is helping Paul make progress with his recovery.” The letter didn’t make any political attacks but quoted a Bible verse from Isaiah 41:10 that begins “Do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God.”
U.S. Capitol Police said it was assisting the FBI and San Francisco police in investigating the break-in and attack.
The Capitol Police, the agency responsible for protecting members of Congress, has reported a sharp increase in threats against lawmakers in recent years, and threats have sharply escalated since the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. It said the number of cases involving threats against members of Congress rose from about 4,000 in 2017 to more than 9,600 last year.
Paul Pelosi owns Financial Leasing Services, a San Francisco-based real estate and venture capital investment and consulting firm. He met his wife while studying at Georgetown University. She was a student at Trinity College at the time. The Pelosis have been married for 59 years and have five children.
Laurie McGinley, Paul Kane and Kim Bellware contributed to this report.
Source: WP
