The San Francisco Superior Court on Friday released shocking footage of the attack on 82-year-old Paul Pelosi, the husband of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), in their San Francisco, California home last fall.
The body camera footage shows the door opening to the Pelosi residence and an assailant – identified by authorities as David DePape – and Pelosi, appearing to wear underwear and a shirt, standing in the doorway. Each man has one hand on a hammer in what looks like a struggle, while the victim appears to be holding a drink in his left hand.
As the officers begin to talk to the men, the assailant maintains his right hand on the hammer and brings his left hand down on Pelosi’s right forearm. An officer then focuses a flashlight on the hammer and orders the perpetrator to “drop” it.
The perpetrator seems to say “nope” before wrestling the hammer from Pelosi’s right hand and swinging it aggressively in the 82-year-old’s direction. The pair subsequently fly out of view from the doorway, and the officers immediately enter the home and engage the suspect.
Pelosi comes back into view and appears motionless on the floor while the officers subdue the assailant. One officer then brandishes handcuffs and shouts, “Give me your fucking hand!”
On Wednesday, Judge Stephen M. Murphy ordered that the footage be released, noting that there was no need to keep it from the public eye, as Breitbart News reported. The video had already been displayed at a preliminary hearing.
Paul Pelosi’s 911 call was also made public on Friday. The 82-year-old tells the operator that “this gentleman just came into the house and wants to wait here for my wife to come home.” He adds that he does not know the man.
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San Francisco Police Department
“He’s telling me not to do anything,” said Pelosi, who then gives the dispatcher his address.
“This gentleman is… he’s telling me to put the phone down and do what he says,” he later told the operator.
When the operator asks for the intruder’s name, a person other than Pelosi responds, “It’s David,” and identifies himself as “a friend of theirs.”
Pelosi again informs the operator he does not know the man.
“He’s telling me I’m being very leading, so I got to stop talking to you, okay?” Pelosi says shortly before the call ends.
In December, DePape entered a not-guilty plea on charges of “attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, residential burglary, false imprisonment, and threatening the life or serious bodily harm to a public official,” KABC reported.
The attack left Pelosi with a skull fracture, which he underwent successful surgery for, and other injuries. According to police, DePape had allegedly stated he intended to hurt former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and that there was “evil in Washington.”
