Home intruder attacks Pelosi’s husband with hammer, shouting, ‘Where is Nancy?’
SAN FRANCISCO — The husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was attacked and severely beaten with a hammer by an assailant who broke into the couple’s San Francisco home early Friday searching for the Democratic leader and shouting: “Where is Nancy, where is Nancy?”
The assault on the 82-year-old Paul Pelosi injected new uneasiness into the nation’s already toxic political climate, just 11 days before the midterm elections. It carried chilling echoes of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol when rioters chanted menacingly for the speaker as they rampaged through the halls trying to halt certification of Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump.
Forty-two-year-old David DePape was arrested on charges of attempted murder, elder abuse and burglary. Paul Pelosi underwent surgery to repair a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands, the speaker’s office said. His doctors expect a full recovery.
Biden quickly called Speaker Pelosi with support after the “horrible attack,” and Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress condemned the assault.
“The president is praying for Paul Pelosi and for Speaker Pelosi’s whole family,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. “The president continues to condemn all violence.”
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell tweeted he was “horrified and disgusted” by the assault.
The nation’s political rhetoric has become increasingly alarming, with ominous threats to lawmakers at an all-time high. The House speaker and other congressional leaders are provided 24-hour security, and increasingly more other members now receive police pro
tection.
In San Francisco on Friday, police were called at about 2.30 a.m. to the Pelosi residence to check on Paul Pelosi, said Chief William Scott.
Investigators believe the intruder gained entry to the home in the upscale Pacific Heights neighborhood by breaking through glass-paneled doors, according to two people familiar with the situation.
Inside, police discovered DePape and Paul Pelosi struggling over a hammer, Scott said. DePape yanked the hammer from Pelosi and began beating him with it before being subdued by offices and arrested, Scott said.
Police said a motive for Friday’s intrusion was still to be determined, but three people with knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press that DePape targeted Pelosi’s home.
The speaker was in Washington, where she had just returned this week after being abroad, and had been scheduled to appear with Vice President Kamala Harris at a fundraising event tonight for the LGBTQ group Human Rights Campaign. Pelosi canceled her appearance.
An address listed for DePape in the Bay Area college town of Berkeley led to a post box at a UPS Store.
DePape was known locally as a pro-nudity activist who had picketed naked at protests against laws requiring people to be clothed in public.
Lawmakers from both parties reacted with shock and expressed their well wishes to the Pelosi family.
“What happened to Paul Pelosi was a dastardly act,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “I spoke with Speaker Pelosi earlier this morning and conveyed my deepest concern and heartfelt wishes to her husband and their family, and I wish him a speedy recovery.”
House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy reached out to the speaker “to check in on Paul and said he’s praying for a full recovery,” spokesman Mark Bednar said.
But some Republicans declined to pause from politics.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, at a campaign stop for a congressional candidate, said of the Pelosis: “There’s no room for violence anywhere, but we’re going to send her back to be with him in California.”
In 2021, Capitol Police investigated around 9,600 threats made against members of Congress, and several members have been physically attacked in recent years. Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., was shot in the head at an event outside a Tucson grocery store in 2011, and Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., was severely injured when a gunman opened fire on a Republican congressional baseball team practice in 2017.
Members of Congress have received additional money for security at their homes, but some have pushed for yet more protection as people have shown up at their residences.