Pelosi alleged attacker says he was on a ‘suicide mission’

The man arrested over a hammer attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband has revealed he also had others in his sights, as Capitol cops come under scrutiny.

The man accused of attacking the husband of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with a hammer told police he also planned to target several other politicians as part of a “suicide mission,” according to court documents.

It comes amid a report US Capitol Police were not watching live cameras outside the Pelosis’ residence at the time of the attack.

David DePape, 42, was arrested last week after he allegedly broke into the couple’s mansion intending to tie up Mrs Pelosi and break her kneecaps, but found only her 82-year-old husband.

He was ordered to be held in custody after he pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and other charges during his arraignment Tuesday local time at a San Francisco court.

In new court filings, state prosecutors said DePape told police he was sick of “lies coming out of Washington” and had “named several targets, including a local professor, several prominent state and federal politicians” as well as their relatives.

“I didn’t really want to hurt him, but you know this was a suicide mission,” DePape allegedly told officers at the scene of his arrest, referring to Mr Pelosi.

“I’m not going to stand here and do nothing even if it cost me my life.”

US Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and husband Paul Pelosi. Picture: AFP

According to the state prosecutors’ filing, DePape startled Mr Pelosi awake from his bed in the early hours of Friday, holding a hammer and several plastic zip ties.

He told Mr Pelosi he had come to find Mrs Pelosi because she is “number two in line for the presidency,” and “we’ve got to take them all out.”

Mr Pelosi was able to call the police and open the mansion’s front door when officers arrived, before DePape struck him in the head with the hammer, leaving him bloodied and unconscious for three minutes, court documents said.

“This case demands detention. Nothing less,” prosecutors wrote.

DePape wore orange jail clothes and spoke only to answer procedural questions during the brief appearance, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

His arm was in a sling, which his lawyer said was a result of an injury he sustained during arrest.

David DePape, pictured in 2013, has been charged with attempting to kidnap US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and assaulting her husband Paul with a hammer.

Speaking outside the courthouse, DePape’s court-appointed lawyer Adam Lipson said the defence team would be looking into the swirling untruths that may have influenced his client.

“There’s also been a lot of speculation regarding Mr. DePape’s vulnerability to misinformation and that is certainly something that we are going to look into,” he told reporters.

“We are going to be doing a comprehensive investigation of what happened,” he said, adding: “We’re going to be looking into Mr. DePape’s mental state.”

Meanwhile, Fox News reports sources said Capitol officers weren't paying close attention to live cameras at the Pelosi residence, only noticing when police lights lit up the street.

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins didn’t answer questions about whether the home had an alarm system, telling reporters, “there was no security present”.

The break-in would have been noticed by officers had they been watching the monitors in real time.

Police officers and FBI agents gather in front of the home of US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi in San Francisco, California. Picture: Getty Images/AFP

‘BREAK KNEECAPS’: PLOT TO KIDNAP NANCY PELOSI

DePape, from California, has been charged with attempting to kidnap Mrs Pelosi and assaulting her 82-year-old husband with a hammer last week.

In an interview with local police, Mr DePape said he planned to hold her hostage and only let her go if she told the “truth”, according to an affidavit filed by the FBI.

The top Democrat was not at her San Francisco house when he allegedly broke in.

Mr DePape told police he was going to “break her kneecaps” if she “lied” to him, saying he viewed her as “the ‘leader of the pack’ of lies told by the Democratic Party”.

“DePape was certain that Nancy would not have told the ‘truth’,” FBI special agent Stephanie Minor said in her affidavit.

“DePape also later explained that by breaking Nancy’s kneecaps, she would then have to be wheeled into Congress, which would show other Members of Congress there were consequences to actions.”

Mr DePape was allegedly carrying zip ties, a roll of tape, rope, rubber and cloth gloves, and two hammers when he was arrested.

Nancy Pelosi is the second in the line of succession to President Joe Biden behind Vice President Kamala Harris. Picture: AFP

Mr Pelosi remains in hospital in San Francisco, with his son Paul Pelosi Jr saying doctors were “rebuilding him slowly” after he suffered a fractured skull in the shocking incident.

According to the affidavit, Mr DePape told police officers who rushed to the Pelosi house that “everything was good”, before he ignored their requests to drop the hammer he was holding and instead hit Mr Pelosi in the head.

Moments earlier, Mr DePape had smashed through a glass door on the back porch and entered Mr Pelosi’s bedroom while he was sleeping, waking him up to say he wanted to “talk to Nancy”.

Upon realising that Ms Pelosi was not home, Mr DePape said he wanted to tie up her husband so he could “go to sleep as he was tired from having had to carry a backpack around the Pelosi residence”, according to Ms Minor’s affidavit.

But Mr Pelosi managed to avoid being restrained and grabbed a phone to call 911.

“DePape explained that he did not leave after Pelosi’s call to 911 because, much like the American founding fathers with the British, he was fighting against tyranny without the option of surrender,” Ms Minor said.

Two other hammers and a sword were later seized at Mr DePape’s home in a nearby garage.

Ms Pelosi said her family had been left “heartbroken and traumatised” by the attack.

- with AFP

Originally published as Pelosi alleged attacker says he was on a ‘suicide mission’