‘Not a random attack’: Nancy Pelosi’s husband severely beaten with hammer in home break-in

San Francisco: The husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was attacked and severely beaten with a hammer by an assailant who broke into the couple’s San Francisco home early on Friday, searching for the Democratic leader and shouting, “Where is Nancy, where is Nancy?”

The assault on the 82-year-old Paul Pelosi injected new uneasiness into the nation’s already toxic political climate, before the midterm elections on November 8. The incident carried echoes of the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol, when rioters chanted menacingly for the speaker as they rampaged through the halls trying to halt certification of Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump.

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her husband Paul in 2019.Credit: AP

Speaker Pelosi, who is second in line of succession to the president, was in Washington at the time of the California attack. She arrived in San Francisco late Friday. Her motorcade was seen arriving at the hospital where her husband was being treated for his injuries.

“This was not a random act. This was intentional. And it’s wrong,” said San Francisco Police Chief William Scott.

At an evening news conference, Scott hailed a emergency dispatcher’s work — after Paul Pelosi called for help — as “lifesaving.” The chief appeared to hold back tears, his voice breaking at times, as he strongly rejected violence in politics.

Police stand at the top of the closed street outside the home of Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in San Francisco.Credit: AP

“Our elected officials are here to do the business of their cities and their counties and their states. Their families don’t sign up for this,” Scott said. “Everybody should be disgusted about what happened this morning.”

Forty-two-year-old David DePape was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, elder abuse and burglary, and remained in the hospital late Friday, police said. Paul Pelosi underwent surgery to repair a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands, and his doctors expect a full recovery, the speaker’s office said.

Biden quickly called Speaker Pelosi with support and later delivered a full-throated condemnation of the “despicable” attack that he said had no place in America.

“There’s too much violence, political violence. Too much hatred. Too much vitriol,” Biden said Friday night at a Democratic rally in Pennsylvania.

“What makes us think it’s not going to corrode the political climate? Enough is enough is enough.”

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell tweeted he was “horrified and disgusted” by the assault.

In San Francisco on Friday, police were called at about 2.30am to the Pelosi residence to check on Paul Pelosi, said Scott.

Scott confirmed that the intruder gained entry through the rear door of the home, which is in the upscale Pacific Heights neighbourhood. Investigators believe the intruder broke through glass-paneled doors, according to two people familiar with the situation.

A police officer rolls out more yellow tape on the closed street near the Pelosis’ home.Credit: AP

Paul Pelosi called 911 himself after telling the intruder he had to use the restroom, where his phone was charging, according to another person familiar with the situation and granted anonymity to discuss it. The person said the intruder confronted the speaker’s husband shouting, “Where is Nancy?”

Scott said the dispatcher figured out there was “something more” than she was being told, resulting in a priority dispatch and faster police response. “I think this was lifesaving,” he noted.

Inside, police discovered the suspect, DePape, and Paul Pelosi struggling over a hammer, and told them to drop it, Scott said. DePape yanked the hammer from Pelosi and began beating him with it, striking at least one blow, before being tackled by officers and arrested, Scott said. The FBI and Capitol Police are also part of the joint investigation.

Police said a motive for Friday’s intrusion was still to be determined, but three people with knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press that DePape targeted Pelosi’s home.

David Depape is shown in Berkeley, California in 2013. Credit: AP

An address listed for DePape in the Bay Area college town of Berkeley led to a post box at a UPS Store.

He was known locally as a pro-nudity activist who had picketed naked at protests against laws requiring people to be clothed in public

Gene DePape, the suspect’s stepfather, said the suspect lived with him in Canada until he was 14 and was a quiet boy.

“He was reclusive,” said Gene DePape, adding, “He was never violent.”

The stepfather said he hadn’t seen DePape since 2003 and tried to get in touch with him several times over the years without success.

Photographs published by The San Francisco Chronicle on Friday identified DePape frolicking nude outside city hall with dozens of others at the 2013 wedding of pro-nudity activist Gypsy Taub, who was marrying another man. Taub did not respond Friday to calls or emails.

A 2013 article in The Chronicle described David DePape as a “hemp jewelry maker” who lived in a Victorian flat in Berkeley with Taub, who hosted a talk show on local public-access TV called “Uncensored 9/11,” in which she appeared naked and pushed conspiracy theories that the 2001 terrorist attacks were “an inside job.”

A pair of web blogs posted in recent months online under the name David DePape contained rants about technology, aliens, communists, religious minorities and global elites.

Investigators work outside the home of the Pelosis.Credit: AP

An August 24 entry titled “Q,” displayed a scatological collection of memes that included photos of the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and made reference to QAnon, the baseless pro-Trump conspiracy theory that espouses the belief that the country is run by a deep state cabal of child sex traffickers, satanic paedophiles and baby-eating cannibals.

“Big Brother has deemed doing your own research as a thought crime,” read a post that appeared to blend references to QAnon with George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984.

In an August 25 entry titled “Gun Rights,” the poster wrote: “You no longer have rights. Your basic human rights hinder Big Brothers ability to enslave and control you in a complete and totalising way.”

Lawmakers from both parties reacted with shock and expressed their well-wishes to the Pelosi family.

Nancy Pelosi has been viciously lampooned in campaign ads by Republicans and outside groups this election cycle. Her protective security detail was with her in Washington at the time of Friday’s attack in California.

Often at her side during formal events in Washington, Paul Pelosi is a wealthy investor who largely remains on the West Coast. They have been married for 59 years and have five adult children and many grandchildren.

Earlier this year, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanour driving under the influence charges related to a May crash in California’s wine country and was sentenced to five days in jail and three years of probation.

AP

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