Video released Friday shows the husband of former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi struggling with her attacker for a hammer during a brutal attack last year at the couple’s home in San Francisco.
Body camera footage shows suspect David DePape grabbing the tool from 82-year-old Paul Pelosi and throwing the hammer over his head. The camera doesn’t capture the hit on Pelosi and the officers—one of them cursing—enter the house and charge at DePape.
An apparently unconscious Paul Pelosi can be seen lying face down on the floor wearing his pajama top and underwear. Agents reported that Pelosi woke up in a pool of his own blood.
The video was released after a coalition of news agencies, including The Associated Press, sought access to evidence prosecutors presented during a public hearing last month. The district attorney’s office in San Francisco had refused to provide the evidence to reporters.
A state court judge ruled Wednesday that there was no reason to keep the video secret.
The evidence includes portions of the 911 911 call made by Paul Pelosi on October 28, as well as video footage from Capitol Police surveillance cameras, a body camera worn by one of the two police officers who arrived at the house and a video of DePape’s questioning with police.
Capitol police video shows DePape walking to a glass-paneled door, exiting, then returning with a backpack and carrying two other bags. DePape puts down all the items and pulls out a hammer, stopping to put on his gloves and using the hammer to break the glass in the door so he can get through an opening.
DePape has pleaded not guilty in ongoing state and federal cases. He is being held in jail without bail. He faces charges including attempted murder, elder abuse and assaulting an immediate family member of a federal official.
San Francisco Deputy Public Defender Adam Lipson, who represents DePape, said in a statement released Friday that the release of the video is a “terrible mistake.”
“Posting this video is disrespectful to Mr. Pelosi and serves no purpose except to encourage public desire for spectacle and violence,” Lipson added. “The video is provocative and may fuel unsubstantiated theories about this case and we are extremely concerned that DePape may not receive a fair trial.”
Members of Congress have faced a sharp increase in threats since the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the federal Capitol.
During the January 6 attack, agitators made vociferous threats against the Speaker of the House of Representatives as they marched through the halls trying to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump in the presidential election. A man was convicted this week of eight criminal counts after putting his feet up on a desk in Pelosi’s office and leaving her a note with a sexist slur.
Paul Pelosi was sleeping at the couple’s home when DePape — who was then 42, about half Pelosi’s age — allegedly entered the home. Nancy Pelosi was in Washington at the time and under the protection of her security team, which does not extend to family members.
