US: Man indicted on federal charges after attack on Paul Pelosi

A man already in custody due to last month’s attack on the husband of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was indicted on Wednesday by a federal grand jury, on charges of assault and attempted kidnapping.

The charges against David DePape stem from the October 28 break-in at the Pelosis’ San Francisco home are the same as (but supersede) those in an earlier federal complaint that was 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 refused, before forcefully swinging it at Paul Pelosi, the indictment said.

The exchange lasted about 15 seconds, and left Pelosi and DePape lying on the floor with blood swelling around the former’s head.

DePape, 42, of Richmond, a San Francisco suburb, was arrested inside the Pelosi residence. When Mr Pelosi called 911, he told officers that he had been sleeping when a man he had never seen before entered his bedroom looking for his wife.

Officers later found that a glass door to the back porch had been broken. They recovered a roll of tape, white rope, a second hammer, a pair of rubber/cloth gloves, and zip ties.

The assault roiled the political world days before the hotly-contested midterm elections: the first nationwide election since the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol in 2021. Threats against lawmakers and election officials have been at all-time highs, and authorities have issued warnings about rising extremism in the US.

DePape’s public defender, Adam Lipson, did not immediately respond to telephone and emailed messages. Last week, he entered a not guilty plea to related state charges filed against DePape, a fringe activist drawn to conspiracy theories.

A San Francisco judge ordered that the convict be held without bail on the state charges of attempted murder, burglary and elder abuse. He has also been placed on federal hold in the case.

He was indicted on federal charges including assault upon an immediate family member of a US official with the intent to retaliate against the official on account of the performance of official duties. A second charge alleges he attempted to kidnap a US official on account of the performance of official duties.

The first charge carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison, while the second one carries 20 years.

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