Police tape is seen outside the home of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on October 28 in San Francisco, California. Pelosi’s husband, Paul, was violently attacked in their home by an intruder.
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Police tape is seen outside the home of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on October 28 in San Francisco, California. Pelosi’s husband, Paul, was violently attacked in their home by an intruder.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
An intruder broke into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco home early Friday morning and “violently attacked” her husband, Paul Pelosi, who was taken to a local hospital to undergo surgery for a skull fracture.
“Earlier this morning, Paul Pelosi was attacked at home by an assailant who acted violently and threatened his life while seeking to see the Speaker,” said a statement from Drew Hammill, Speaker Pelosi’s spokesman.
According to the statement, Mr. Pelosi was admitted to Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital where he underwent “successful surgery to repair a fractured skull and severe injuries to his right arm and hands. His doctors expect a full recovery.”
San Francisco Police Chief William Scott told reporters Friday afternoon that officers who responded to the Pelosi residence at 2:27 a.m. met a grown man and Mr. Pelosi “both holding a hammer.”
The suspect, who police have identified as 42-year-old David Depape, “took the hammer from Mr. Pelosi and violently assaulted him with it.”
“Our officers immediately confronted the suspect, disarmed him, took him into custody, called for emergency assistance and rendered medical aid,” Scott said, adding that both Depape and Pelosi were transported to a local hospital for treatment.
A source briefed on the attack told NPR that the attacker was looking for Speaker Pelosi and confronted her husband, yelling, “Where’s Nancy, where’s Nancy?”
Law enforcement is still investigating the attack.
NPR has reviewed social media accounts from someone with the same name as Depape. They include anti-Semitic tropes and also false claims about the 2020 election and the COVID vaccine. Law enforcement has not released official information about any specific comments about Pelosi.
Pelosi, who is second in line to the presidency after the vice president, was not home at the time of the attack and assault.
The entry into her residence raises serious questions about the security of the home of one of the most powerful lawmakers in the country.
The US Capitol Police are assisting the FBI and the San Francisco Police Department with a joint investigation into the theft.
“Special agents with USCP’s California field office quickly arrived on the scene, while a team of investigators from the Department’s Threat Assessment Section were simultaneously dispatched from the East Coast to assist the FBI and San Francisco Police with an investigation shared,” a statement from Capitol Police read.
President Biden called Pelosi on Friday morning to offer his support after the attack.
“The president continues to condemn any violence and asks that the family’s desire for privacy be respected,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and her husband, Paul Pelosi, are seen here at the 23rd Annual Mark Twain Award for American Humor at the Kennedy Center on April 24, 2022 in Washington, DC.
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Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and her husband, Paul Pelosi, are seen here at the 23rd Annual Mark Twain Award for American Humor at the Kennedy Center on April 24, 2022 in Washington, DC.
Paul Morigi/Getty Images
The attack comes as political figures and their families face an increase in threats
Cries of “Where’s Nancy?” from the attacker on Friday echoes similar calls from the rioters who stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
“Where are you Nancy, we are looking for you” chanted the protesters that day. Pelosi and other congressional leaders were taken to a safe location during the attack.
Members of Congress have received more funding and resources to secure their homes, but some have pushed for more protections given the increased threats.
According to the US Capitol Police, the number of cases involving statements and threats against lawmakers more than doubled from 2017 to 2021. The force’s threat assessment team opened 9,625 cases in 2021.
This summer, a man holding a handgun outside his home Rep. Democrat Pramila Jayapal, president of the Progressive Congress Caucus, was arrested.
Rep. Lee Zeldin, RN.Y., was assaulted by a man at a campaign event in July during his gubernatorial race. The assailant tried to stab the congressman, but Zeldin was not seriously injured.
Rep. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., an outspoken critic of former President Donald Trump, shared voicemails left in his Capitol Hill office over the summer that threatened him and his family.
“We know where your family is and we’re going to pick you up,” said one caller.
In April, an Alaska man was sentenced to 32 months in prison after leaving threatening voicemail messages to two Alaska Republican senators, Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan.
“I’m going to find out all your possessions and I’m going to burn everything you hope to have, and I’m going to burn everything you have,” the man said in a text message to Murkowski, asking if the senator had seen what “50-caliber shell “. makes a “human head”.
In December, a New Hampshire man was sentenced to 33 months in prison for threatening to hang members of Congress who did not support Trump.
Lawmakers react to the attack
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle quickly condemned the attack and offered their support to the Pelosi family.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., posted on Twitter that he was “horrified and disgusted” by the attack and is “grateful to hear that Paul is on track to make a full recovery.”
Appalled and disgusted by reports that Paul Pelosi was attacked at his and Speaker Pelosi’s home last night. Grateful to hear that Paul is on track to make a full recovery and that law enforcement, including our stellar Capitol Police, are on the case.
— Leader McConnell (@LeaderMcConnell) October 28, 2022
In a statement, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called the attack a “despicable act” and said he spoke with Speaker Pelosi on Friday morning to express his “deepest concern and heartfelt wishes”.
GOP Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., RESPONDED to the attack, writing that he was “disgusted to hear of the horrific attack on Speaker Pelosi’s husband, Paul,” adding, “Let’s be clear: violence has no place in this country.”
Scalise has dealt personally with political violence. In 2017, he was shot by a gunman targeting a baseball practice in Congress. Scalise remained in critical condition for days and had to undergo several surgeries to recover.
Former Vice President Mike Pence added to his outrage over the attack on Twitter. “There can be no tolerance for violence against public officials or their families has written. “This man should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Pence himself was the target of violent attack on January 6, when the crowd chanted “Hang Mike Pence” after it became clear that Pence, who was leading the electoral vote count, would not overturn the election results.
In the latest footage released by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack, Pelosi can be seen talking to Pence on the phone and expressing concerns about his safety at the Capitol.
“Don’t let anyone know where you are,” she said.
