During his initial court appearance in San Francisco on Tuesday, the man accused of attacking Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, filed a not-guilty plea to all state counts. San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced on Monday that David DePape, 42, is facing a long list of state crimes, including attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon. In addition to these accusations, DePape also faces federal counts for attempted kidnapping and violence.
At his arraignment on Tuesday, DePape forfeited his right to a hearing within 10 days. As a result, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Diane Northway scheduled a hearing on November 4 to set the date for the preliminary hearing and the determination of bail.
At the arraignment, no cameras were permitted in the courtroom. Outside of the courtroom, DePape’s lawyer, Adam Lipson, stated: “Due to the nature of this case, there has been a lot of speculation and gossip. In order to avoid adding to the speculation, I won’t discuss the case’s facts at this time.
First they laughed at Paul Pelosi getting brutally attacked, now they are booing him. This is some twisted stuff from a “God fearing” crowd. pic.twitter.com/gxHHTuMxRH
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) November 4, 2022
But again, it would be premature to talk about that at this point, Lipson said. “What I would say is that there has been a lot of conjecture around Mr. DePape’s vulnerability to misinformation and that’s absolutely something we are going to look into, that we are going to go into,” Lipson said.
According to Jenkins, DePape’s words suggest that the attack was “politically motivated” Yes, it appears as though this was politically motivated, according to his statements and remarks that he made in that house during his visit with Mr. Pelosi, she added.
According to court records, DePape informed police that he intended to kidnap Nancy Pelosi and referred to her as the “head of the pack of lies” spread by the Democrats. In his recuperation, Paul Pelosi is “making steady improvement.”
It is alarming but not surprising that the attacker who attempted to kidnap and maim Speaker Pelosi was motivated by right-wing conspiracies promoted by certain pundits and politicians.
This kind of misinformation and disinformation is dangerous.https://t.co/NkdCnxnSFA
— Suzanne Bonamici (@RepBonamici) November 3, 2022
Speaker Pelosi announced in a statement Monday night that Paul Pelosi is “making steady progress on what will be a protracted rehabilitation process.” “Since Paul was brutally attacked early on Friday, we have received tens of thousands of messages of worry, prayers, and well wishes. We are incredibly appreciative, the message said.
According to an earlier news release from Nancy Pelosi’s office, Paul Pelosi underwent “successful surgery to heal a skull fracture and major injuries to his right arm and hands” after the attack. According to a person familiar with the situation who spoke to CNN, members of the Pelosi family are anticipated to be able to hear the audio of the 911 call Paul Pelosi made to the police and watch body camera footage of the cops who arrived at his home the night he was attacked.
The criminal complaint provides specifics about the attack. The most comprehensive account of Paul Pelosi’s 911 call, while the incident was taking place, was made public in a court document relating to the federal charges brought against DePape.
Pelosi said, “There is a man in the house, and the male is going to wait for Pelosi’s wife,” or words to that effect. Pelosi added that he is unsure about the identity of the person. In a sworn document that was unveiled on Monday, an FBI agent said that the individual claimed to be named David.
At 2:23 in the morning, Paul Pelosi dialed 911. According to the affidavit that was published on Monday, cops got to his house eight minutes after PT on Friday. The affidavit stated that Pelosi and DePape were both holding hammers with one hand each when the door was opened, and DePape had his other hand holding onto Pelosi’s forearm.
“Pelosi welcomed the police. The police inquired as to their situation. In response, DePape said everything was OK. Pelosi and DePape were then instructed by police to stop using force. DePape allegedly snatched the hammer away at that precise moment and swung it, striking Paul Pelosi in the head. After the blow, Pelosi “looked to be comatose on the ground,” according to the affidavit.
The FBI agent stated in the statement that when DePape entered the Pelosi residence early on October 28, 2022, he was “prepared to imprison and hurt Speaker Pelosi.” DePape came prepared that morning, carrying a rope, zip ties, tape, and at least one hammer.
According to prior reports from CNN, DePape accosted Pelosi and yelled, “Where is Nancy? The speaker wasn’t at home when the attack happened. The affidavit states that “DePape indicated that he was going to talk to Nancy while holding her hostage. DePape threatened to “crush her kneecaps” if Nancy “lied,” but if she told the “truth,” he would let her go.
According to the FBI affidavit, “DePape was positive that Nancy would not have spoken the ‘truth’.” “This country has no place for it.” Alejandro Mayorkas, the secretary of homeland security, denounced the “horrific, brutal act” in a Monday interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.
In his first statements since the attack last week, Mayorkas declared, “There’s no place for it in this nation,” adding that it was challenging to categorize the act as “domestic terrorism” due to the legal ramifications of the phrase.
Federal authorities issued a joint report the day Pelosi was attacked warning that domestic violent extremists represent a greater threat to the 2022 midterm elections. When asked if he was concerned about copycat attacks, Mayorkas responded that domestic violent extremism is “one of the greatest terrorism-related” threats to the United States.
He added that DHS monitors the threat environment and disseminates information to state and local law enforcement agencies so they are aware of the threat. US Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger stated on Tuesday that the department has “engaged in a study” of the incident and that more resources are needed for the lawmakers’ physical security in light of the current political atmosphere.
The manager stated in a written statement that “we believe the current political climate demands extra resources to offer additional layers of physical security for Members of Congress.” “This strategy would place a focus on building redundancy to the existing Congressional leadership protections. I hope you can appreciate that we cannot discuss the specifics of these upgrades because our nation cannot afford to facilitate any potential negative actors,” he continued.
As part of its efforts to provide security for Members when they travel outside Washington, DC, the Capitol Police has “worked diligently to investigate reported threats, improve intelligence collection and analysis, and strengthen our partnerships with law enforcement agencies across the country,” according to Manager.
Representative Zoe Lofgren, a Democrat from California, said on Tuesday that unless we identify the source of this political violence, lawmakers won’t be any safer. Ronna McDaniel, the chair of the RNC, and Kevin McCarthy, the minority leader, both expressed their sorrow for Paul Pelosi. However, she continued, “It’s really the result of criminality; that’s the Democrats’ problem.
“That’s like saying John Wilkes Booth was the result of a crime problem at Ford’s Theater or that Lee Harvey Oswald was related to crime in Dallas. In addition to being ludicrous, it contributes to the issue of downplaying what is motivating this violence, according to Lofgren. Various reactions from the right
Popular Republicans like Kari Lake, the party’s candidate for governor of Arizona, seemed to make light of the assault.
“Protection for our children at school is not insurmountable. They portray it as such. In Scottsdale, Lake added to laughs, “Nancy Pelosi, well, she’s got protection while she’s in DC – evidently, her house doesn’t have a lot of protection.
While everything was going on, Donald Trump Jr. posted a picture of a hammer and some panties along with the caption, “Got my Paul Pelosi Halloween costume ready.” Even so, a number of well-known Republicans have denounced the attack, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell; however, some others, such as former President Donald Trump, have provided a more muted response.
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