In Pelosi attack, DePape pleads not guilty again
The man accused of breaking into U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s home and bludgeoning her husband with a hammer pleaded not guilty to federal charges of attempted kidnapping and assault on Tuesday morning, crimes for which he could face up to 50 years in prison.
David DePape, 42, shuffled into a 19th-floor courtroom in the Phillip Burton Federal Building at 10:30 a.m., a hulking, bearded figure in orange prison garb, so tall he had to lean over the lectern to speak with his attorney. Flanked by U.S. marshals, he stated his name clearly for U.S. Magistrate Alex Tse. He wore no wrist shackles, and quietly listened as Tse read his Miranda rights, and federal prosecutors summarized the indictment against him.
The defendant faces two counts in federal court, for attempted kidnapping of a federal officer — Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi — which carries up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine, among other penalties; and for assault on an immediate family member of a federal officer — 82-year-old Paul Pelosi — which exposes him to 30 years’ imprisonment, five years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine, plus additional penalties.
These charges stem from a stunning and wildly politicized incident in which DePape allegedly broke into the Pelosis’ three-story house in Pacific Heights shortly after 2 a.m. on Oct. 28, later telling investigators he sought to hold the House Speaker hostage, interrogate her and possibly break her kneecaps, according to court documents. Instead, he found Paul Pelosi asleep in his bedroom.
Startled awake, Paul Pelosi managed to slip into a bathroom and surreptitiously call 911. When police arrived, they saw the two men struggling over a hammer, which DePape wrested from Paul Pelosi and used to strike the elderly man unconscious, fracturing his skull.
The federal case against DePape will proceed alongside a separate criminal case in San Francisco Superior Court, where District Attorney Brooke Jenkins has charged DePape with attempted murder and a string of other charges.
DePape pleaded not guilty in the San Francisco case earlier this month. As of Tuesday he remained incarcerated in San Francisco County jail, and his federal public defender, Angela Chuang, said she will not seek her client’s release from custody.
Born and raised in Canada, DePape lived much of his adult life wandering between cities and subcultures, participating in demonstrations for public nudity during his romantic relationship with well-known Bay Area nudist Oxane “Gypsy” Taub, before he apparently became infatuated with far-right ideas.
In recent years, he posted bigoted screeds and alt-right conspiracy theories to blogs that seemed to have no audience. His alleged attack on Paul Pelosi inflamed political divisions throughout the country, creating grist for speculation and misinformation that quickly got amplified on social media, a week before a hotly contested midterm election.