Federal Trial Of Paul Pelosi Attacker Begins In San Francisco

The trial of David DePape, the man who broke into the home of now-former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and severely injured her husband Paul Pelosi, began on Thursday in San Francisco.

On October 28, 2022, Paul Pelosi, then home alone in San Francisco, was attacked by DePape. Armed with a hammer, DePape broke into the Pelosi home and began calling out for the Speaker, causing Paul Pelosi to call the police and confront the man. DePape soon began trying to tie him up while saying that he wanted to do the same to his wife. A scuffle soon broke out, which at that time police arrived in time to see DePape start to attack Pelosi. Special agents from the U.S. Capitol Police’s California Field Office and SFPD officers quickly tackled DePape as a result and arrested him.

Pelosi was immediately sent to a nearby hospital. While his wounds were serious, with a skull fracture and injuries to his hands and wrists, Paul Pelosi eventually recovered from his injuries. DePape, meanwhile, was sent to jail, with a joint SFPD, FBI, and Capitol Police investigation being launched. In the ensuing days, DePape was questioned. According to an affidavit, DePape told prosecutors that his plan was to break into the Pelosi residence and hold her hostage, calling her the ‘leader of the pack’. He would then ask her questions. If she told the truth, she would be let go. But if she lied, DePape would break her kneecaps. He continued that he was relatively certain she would lie. The goal was to then have Pelosi wheeled into Congress in a wheelchair, as a way to show others there what the consequences would be for lying.

“DePape stated that he was going to hold Nancy hostage and talk to her,” said the affidavit. “If Nancy were to tell DePape the ‘truth,’ he would let her go, and if she ‘lied,’ he was going to break ‘her kneecaps.’ 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 that there were consequences to actions.”

Later reports also found that DePape had other targets, which included Governor Gavin Newsom, actor Tom Hanks and President Joe Biden’s son Hunter. It was also found that DePape was not on any government watchlists or was known to law enforcement as a threat.

DePape was eventually charged by the federal government with federal prosecutors charged DePape with one count each of “attempted kidnapping of a federal official in the performance of official duties” and “assaulting an immediate member of a federal official’s family and inflicting a serious injury with a dangerous weapon”. The San Francisco DA also charged him with another six counts, including attempted murder, residential burglary, elder abuse, assault with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment of an elder, and threatening the family member of public official.

Trial begins for DePape

This led to the opening of the federal trial on Thursday following DePape’s non-guilty plea earlier this year. In the opening statements, prosecutors said that DePape willingly attacked the now 83-year-old Pelosi, adding in how conspiracy theories and related issues played a role in what he did.

In the coming weeks, dozens of witnesses are to be questioned, including a potential target of DePape who had their name redacted, federal agents, San Francisco police officers, an extremism researcher, Nancy Pelosi’s Chief of Staff Daniel Bernal, first responders, and the surgeon who operated on Pelosi. Paul Pelosi himself is set to testify sometime next week.

“It’s pretty cut and dry what DePape did, so he is looking at a very long sentence,” said Frank Ma, a former policeman and security consultant in the city, to the Globe. “When I was on the force, high profile attacks like these always had a ton of effective witnesses, and the Pelosi trial is no different. They have motive, audio evidence, video evidence, dozens of statements, and plenty from the attacker himself. It’s pretty obvious that he is going to jail. Regardless of where you are politically, he attempted to murder someone pretty blatantly.

“There might be some questioning over some of his more extremist tendencies here, but in the end, he tried to kill someone. And was targeting at least one prominent lawmaker as well. San Francisco has had a very hardline against political killings ever since Dan White got off easy during the Milk and Moscone assassinations in 1978. They won’t go easy on DePape. That’s for sure.”

The trial of DePape is expected to continue through the next several weeks.