SAN FRANCISCO –
A man who was detained during last month’s attack on the husband of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was indicted by a federal grand jury on Wednesday on charges of assault and attempted kidnapping. .
The charges against David DePape stemming from the October 28 break-in at Pelosis’ San Francisco home are the same as but replace those in the previous federal complaint filed on October 31.
When officers responded to Paul Pelosi’s 911 call, they found Paul Pelosi and DePape fighting over a hammer, according to the six-page indictment. When an officer directed DePape to drop the hammer, he responded, “ummm nope,” before swinging it forcefully at Paul Pelosi, the indictment said.
The exchange lasted about 15 seconds, and left Pelosi and DePape lying on the floor with swollen blood around Paul Pelosi’s head, the indictment said.
DePape, 42, of Richmond, a suburb of San Francisco, was arrested inside Pelosi’s mansion. When Paul Pelosi called 911, he told officers he was asleep when a man he had never seen entered his bedroom to find Nancy Pelosi.
The staff later discovered that a glass door on the back porch had broken. They recovered a roll of duct tape, white string, a second hammer, a pair of cloth and rubber gloves, and lanyards.
The attack rattled the political world in the days leading up to the hectic midterm elections, the first national elections since January 6, 2021, in rioting at the Capitol. Threats to lawmakers and election officials have been at an all-time high, and authorities have issued warnings about rising extremism in the US
DePape’s public defender, Adam Lipson, did not immediately respond to phone and email messages. Last week, he pleaded not guilty to related state charges against DePape, a fringe activist intrigued by conspiracy theories. A San Francisco judge ordered DePape to be held without bail on charges of attempted murder, theft and elder abuse, and he is also under federal custody in the case.
He was charged with federal crimes including assaulting an immediate family member of a U.S. official with the intent to retaliate against the official for law enforcement reasons. The second charge alleges he attempted to kidnap a US official for law enforcement reasons.
The first charge carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison and the second charge 20 years in prison.
