By Nathan Frandino and Steve Gorman
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – The man who clubbed U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband in the head with hammer, shouting “Where is Nancy?” after forcing his way into the couple’s San Francisco home, faced charges of attempted murder and other felonies a day later.
Police initially declined to offer a motive for Friday’s assault on Paul Pelosi, 82, who according to his wife’s office underwent surgery for a skull fracture and injuries to his right arm and hands, though doctors expect a full recovery.
But the incident stoked fears about political violence less than two weeks ahead of midterm elections on Nov. 8 that will decide control of the House of Representatives and Senate, coming amid the most vitriolic and polarized U.S. political climate in decades.
The 82-year-old House speaker herself, a Democrat who is second in the constitutional line of succession to the U.S. presidency, was in Washington at the time of the assault.
She flew to San Francisco to be with her husband. Three dark-colored SUVs believed to belong to a special security detail were parked on Saturday with a city police patrol car outside Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, where Paul Pelosi was admitted.
Paul Pelosi Jr., the couple’s son, was also at the hospital. Asked by a reporter for an update on his father, he replied: “So far, so good.”
President Joe Biden, speaking to reporters in Wilmington, Delaware, on Saturday, said he understood Pelosi’s husband “seems to be doing a lot better,” and that the attack appeared to have been “intended for Nancy.”
Police identified the man arrested at the scene as David DePape, 42. He, too, was taken to a San Francisco hospital.
Online sheriff’s records showed he was booked into custody on suspicion of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, battery, burglary, and several other felonies. Formal charges will be filed on Monday, and his arraignment is expected on Tuesday, according to the San Francisco district attorney’s office.
San Francisco Police Chief William Scott told a Friday night news briefing that police detectives, assisted by FBI agents, had yet to determine what precipitated the home invasion but said, “We know this was not a random act.”
A statement from Nancy Pelosi’s spokesperson, Drew Hammill, said Pelosi’s husband had been attacked “by an assailant who acted with force, and threatened his life while demanding to see the Speaker.”
The intruder shouted, “Where is Nancy?” before attacking, according to a person briefed on the incident who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.
FROM HEMP TO HATE?
In the search for a motive, attention turned to the suspect’s apparent internet profile.
In recent posts on several websites, an internet user named “daviddepape” expressed support for former President Donald Trump and embraced the cult-like conspiracy theory QAnon. The posts included references to “satanic pedophilia,” anti-Semitic tropes and criticism of women, transgender people and censorship by tech companies.
Older messages promoted quartz crystals and hemp bracelets. Reuters could not confirm that the posts were created by the man arrested on Friday.
Experts on extremism said the man who attacked Pelosi’s husband could be an example of a growing trend they call “stochastic terrorism,” in which sometimes-unstable individuals are inspired to violence by hate speech and scenarios they see online and hear echoed by public figures.
“This was clearly a targeted attack. The purpose was to locate and potentially harm the speaker of the House,” said John Cohen, a former counterterrorism coordinator and head of intelligence at the Department of Homeland Security who is working with U.S. law enforcement agencies on the issue.
The San Francisco Chronicle posted a photo of a man it identified as DePape dancing at the 2013 wedding of two nudist activists in San Francisco, though he was clothed. DePape, then a hemp jewelry maker who lived with the couple in Berkeley, was the best man, the newspaper reported.
Scott said the intruder forced his way into the Pelosis’ three-story red brick townhouse through a rear door. Aerial photos showed shattered glass at the back of the house in the city’s affluent Pacific Heights neighborhood.
WELLBEING CHECK
The chief said police were dispatched for an “A-priority wellbeing check” at about 2:30 a.m. on the basis of a somewhat cryptic emergency-911 call from the residence. Other news outlets reported the call was placed by Paul Pelosi.
Scott credited the 911 operator with using her experience and intuition to “figure out that there was more to this incident than what she was being told” by the caller, so she dispatched the call at a higher priority than normal. Scott called her decision “life-saving.”
According to Scott, police arriving at the scene caught a glimpse through the front door of DePape and Pelosi struggling over a hammer. As the officers yelled at both men to drop the tool, DePape yanked the hammer away and was seen striking Pelosi at least once, the chief said.
The officers then tackled, disarmed and arrested DePape and took both men to hospital, Scott said.
The incident came a day after New York City police warned that extremists could target politicians, political events and polling sites ahead of the midterm elections.
The U.S. Capitol Police said they investigated 9,625 threats against lawmakers from both parties in 2021, nearly a threefold increase from 2017.
As a Democratic leader in Washington and a longtime representative from one of America’s most liberal cities, Nancy Pelosi is a frequent target of Republican criticism.
Her office was ransacked during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of Republican then-President Trump, some of whom hunted for her during the assault.
In January 2021, her home was vandalized with graffiti a pig’s head left in front of the garage, media reported. The home of Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell was also vandalized around that time.
(This story has been corrected to fix day of week in paragraphs 5 and 7)
(Reporting by Nathan Frandino in San Francisco and Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Andrea Shalal, Andy Sullivan, Brendan O’Brien, Jonathan Allen, Doina Chiacu, Rich McKay, Rami Ayyub, Tim Ahmann, Dan Whitcomb, Ismail Shakil, Tyler Clifford, and Gram Slattery; Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Jonathan Oatis, Alistair Bell and Daniel Wallis)
