The husband of the Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi was Friday the victim of assault with a hammer in his own home, of which the prominent politician herself was the target. A 42-year-old man broke into the couple’s home in San Francisco and yelled, according to multiple American media “Where’s Nancy?” She was not at home at the time.
The police announced at a press conference on Friday afternoon that the attacker is 42-year-old David Depape. He attacked Paul Pelosi according to The Washington Post in front of the police with a hammer and is charged with attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon. His motive is still under investigation.
Nancy Pelosi was in Washington herself on Friday. News channel CNN reports based on anonymous sources that the attacker’s husband would have tied up “until Nancy came home” and when the police arrived he said he was “waiting for Nancy”. The San Francisco Police Department has not confirmed that.
During the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021, invaders were also looking for Nancy Pelosi, who was arranging reinforcements amid the chaos.
According to Reuters news agency, several posts have recently been posted on the Internet under the username ‘daviddepape’ referring to anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, satanic pedophilia, criticism of women, tech company censorship and other issues of the far right. It has not yet been determined whether those messages are actually from the suspect.
Full recovery expected
Paul Pelosi, 82, owner of a San Francisco-based real estate and venture capital firm, was taken to a hospital Friday morning. There he is operated on. According to a spokesperson, it is expected that he will fully recover. US President Joe Biden has expressed his disgust about the “terrible attack” and says to pray for the Pelosi family.
The attack came just under two weeks before the midterms, the midterm elections in the United States. There, Republicans hope to regain the majority in Congress — consisting of the Senate and House of Representatives — from the Democrats, of which Pelosi is one of the most prominent faces.