Politics

Paul Pelosi attacker charged with assault, attempted kidnapping

Washington, Oct 31 (EFE).- The man who late last week attacked Paul Pelosi, the husband of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, at their home in San Francisco, California, was charged on Monday with assault and attempted kidnapping by the Department of Justice.

The accusation of assault carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison while the attempted kidnapping charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years behind bars when the intended victim is a relative of a “federal officer” – that is, a government official – the DOJ said in a statement.

According to the DOJ complaint filed against DePape, the accused viewed Nancy Pelosi as the “‘leader of the pack’ of lies told by the Democratic Party,” and “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,” read the filing.

The job of prosecuting David DePape, 42 and born in Canada, now falls to the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, although the case is also being investigated by the FBI, the US Capitol Police and the San Francisco police department.

Paul Pelosi, 82, was attacked during the early morning hours at the Pelosi home in San Francisco after the attacker broke in shouting “Where is Nancy?” – although she was in Washington DC at the time.

The investigation into the matter remains open but authorities believe DePape broke into the home through the back door.

After receiving a 911 call that Pelosi managed to place at 2:27 am, possibly when the attacker let him go to the bathroom, police arrived at the home, the front door of which was open, and found the Speaker’s husband and the accused struggling near the doorway over a hammer.

The officers ordered the men to drop the hammer and at that moment the attacker hit Pelosi with it, whereupon the police entered the home, took the weapon from DePape and put him in custody.

The DOJ statement says that the accused was carrying with him at the time of his arrest a second hammer, rubber gloves, duct tape and zip ties with which to restrain a person.

According to his recent Internet activity, which was accessed by law enforcement, DePape evidently adhered to a number of conspiracies on right-wing media, including QAnon, and accessed Web sites pushing the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from then-President Donald Trump, who was running for a second term.

The Speaker’s husband was taken to Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and successfully operated on for a skull fracture and assorted serious injuries to his right arm and hands.

The attack took place 12 days before the Nov. 8 midterm elections, when US voters will select all members of the House of Representatives and one-third of the country’s senators.

In comments to CNN, San Francisco police chief William Scott said Monday that his officers went to the Pelosi home after the victim himself called 911.

Scott categorically rejected the suggestion that Pelosi knew his attacker, as some right-wing conspiracy mongers have been claiming in recent hours.

“There is absolutely no evidence that Mr. Pelosi knew this man,” Scott said, adding that “it really is sad that these … baseless, factless theories … are being floated out there. And they’re damaging … to the people involved. They’re damaging to this investigation.

According to CBS News on Monday, the attacker was also in possession of a list of people he allegedly wanted to attack.

EFE jdg/pem/szg/bp

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