Prosecutors seek 40-year term for Pelosi attacker
Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to sentence David DePape to 40 years in prison for attempting to kidnap House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and “nearly killing” her husband Paul Pelosi when he struck him on the head with a hammer at the couple’s San Francisco home in 2022.
DePape was found guilty last November of attempted kidnapping of a federal official and assaulting a federal official’s family member. The jury verdict was unanimous and came less than 24 hours after deliberations began.
In court documents reviewed by the Chronicle, federal prosecutors say that DePape has not shown remorse for his crime and “seemed proud of what he had accomplished.” Prosecutors also called the attack by DePape an act of terrorism, adding that he planned to hold Nancy Pelosi hostage and “break her kneecaps if she lied to him.”
“There is nothing about the history and characteristics of the defendant that warrant leniency,” the documents said. “The defendant has admitted — indeed bragged — that he knew what he was doing when he packed his bags and went to the Pelosi’s home.”
The attack at the Pelosi home occurred in the early morning of Oct. 28, 2022. San Francisco police officers were dispatched to the home at 2:27 a.m. They found DePape and Paul Pelosi both holding the hammer at the home’s entryway. DePape proceeded to rip the hammer away from Pelosi and violently assaulted him, Police Chief Bill Scott said after the attack.
Paul Pelosi was transported to Zuckerberg General Hospital in San Francisco where he “underwent successful surgery to repair a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands,” according to Nancy Pelosi’s office. He was released from the hospital six days after the attack.
However, as of DePape’s trial in November, Paul Pelosi still had not fully recovered from his injuries, the court documents said. At the trial, Pelosi testified that he still was experiencing side effects, both physical and emotional, as a result of the attack.
“Mr. Pelosi is a brave man who has fought hard to recover his health after nearly dying at the defendant’s hands,” prosecutors said in the documents. “However, it is certain that Mr. Pelosi will never regain the quality of his physical or emotional life that he had prior to October 28, 2022. The impact of course, goes beyond Mr. Pelosi to his wife and to his children who live with the reality of what almost happened and what did happen — and what might have happened had the hammer hit just a centimeter to the side.”
After the attack, the Chronicle dug into DePape’s past, which revealed details about his childhood in Canada, his move to the Bay Area, and a stint of pro-nudity activism. He also appeared to have an obsession with spreading right-wing conspiracy theories on the internet and maintained a WordPress blog that sought to rally against censorship by tech companies, government officials and media outlets.
DePape’s sentencing is scheduled for Friday at the Northern District of California’s San Francisco Courthouse. His sentence will be determined by District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley.