Holly MatkinBy Holly Matkin and Sandy Malone
San Francisco, CA – Bodycam footage showing the moment an illegal immigrant attacked U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, with a hammer during a home invasion last year was released on Friday by order of a San Francisco Superior Court judge (video below).
The footage was ordered to be released despite the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office’s argument that making the video public would contribute to the spread of misinformation regarding the Oct. 28, 2022, assault at the couple’s Pacific Heights home, according to FOX News.
The newly-released materials also include an audio recording of Paul Pelosi’s 911 call and surveillance footage from Capitol police, KTVU reported.
Surveillance video captured the initial break-in.
Fox News also has video of this guy breaking into the Pelosi home. pic.twitter.com/dR3PAUs3L5
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) January 27, 2023
Sometime after the suspect broke into the home, Paul Pelosi called 911 and appeared to be trying to signal to the 911 operator that he needed help.
Pelosi called from a bathroom and told the dispatcher he must have “called by mistake.”
“This is San Francisco Police. Do you need help?” the dispatcher asked.
Paul Pelosi told her that a “gentleman” was there, waiting for his wife, Nancy Pelosi, to come back to the house.
“But she’s not going to be here for a day, so I guess we’ll have to wait,” he said.
“Okay – do you need police, fire, or medical for anything?” the 911 dispatcher asked.
“Ah, I don’t think so. I don’t think so,” Paul Pelosi responded.
He then asked if the Capitol police were around, and noted they are usually there to protect his wife.
Paul Pelosi briefly spoke with someone in the background before turning his attention back to the 911 call.
“He thinks everything is good,” he told the dispatcher. “I’ve got a problem, but he thinks everything’s good.”
The dispatcher then told him to call back if he needed anything, but Paul Pelosi cut her off.
“No, no, no – this gentleman just came into the house,” he said. “He wants to wait here for my wife to come home.”
When the dispatcher asked Paul Pelosi if he knew the man, he told her he did not.
“He’s telling me to put the phone down and to just do what he said, okay?” he noted.
When the dispatcher asked Paul Pelosi what the man’s name was, the suspect immediately answered on his own.
“My name’s David,” he said. “I’m a friend of theirs.”
The dispatcher tried to stay on the line while officers responded to the scene, but Paul Pelosi told her the man didn’t want that.
“He wants me to get the hell off the phone, okay?” he told her. “Thank you.”
BREAKING: The 911 Call from the night of the attack on Paul Pelosi has been released pic.twitter.com/Abfc9lfmwp
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) January 27, 2023
The bodycam video showed two San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) officers as they approached the Pelosi residence and knocked on the door.
The door was answered by the suspect, 42-year-old David DePape, KTVU reported.
“Hey, how’s it going?” the suspect greeted the officers.
Paul Pelosi smiled slightly as he and DePape both held onto a hammer, the video showed.
The former House Speaker’s 82-year-old husband was holding a beverage glass in his other hand.
One of the officers ordered DePape to drop the hammer, but he refused.
“Um, nope,” he said, just before he pulled the hammer out of Paul Pelosi’s grasp and swung at him.
“Oh s—t!” one of the officers said as they rushed inside the home and took the suspect to the ground, the video showed.
Paul Pelosi was also seen lying motionless on the floor.
“Give me your f—king hands!” an officer yelled repeatedly as they struggled to place DePape in handcuffs.
The suspect was quickly subdued and has since been charged with a litany of federal and state charges including attempted kidnapping and assault with intent to retaliate against a federal official by threatening or injuring a family member, attempted homicide, first-degree burglary, assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery with serious bodily injury, elder abuse, threatening a public official, or family member, NBC News reported.
U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has also issued a detainer for the suspect, informing local authorities the agency intends to take custody of DePape if he is released, CNN reported.
Paul Pelosi suffered a fractured skull and other injuries in the attack.
San Francisco Superior Court Judge Stephen Murphy ordered the video release on Wednesday after a slew of media organizations pushed to have it made public, KTVU reported.
Releasing the footage would help the media shut down the spread of false information on an issue of public interest, the news outlets reasoned.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins argued the footage should remain private, and said that releasing the videos would contribute to the spread of misinformation and potentially make it impossible for DePape to have a fair trial.
Sources said DePape broke into the Pelosi home that night looking for Nancy Pelosi, but that he instead found her husband alone and asleep, The Washington Post reported.
Paul Pelosi told DePape that his wife wasn’t home and the home invader said he would wait for her.
The Speaker’s husband managed to dial 911 from a phone in the bathroom and was able to convey the urgency of the situation to an alert dispatcher who immediately sent San Francisco police officers to the residence.
Jenkins filed court documents on Nov. 1, 2022, said that Paul Pelosi was “knocked unconscious” by DePape and woke up in a “pool of his own blood,” according to FOX News.
Court documents said he was unconscious for three minutes.
Prosecutors said DePape was also carrying duct tape and a bag of zip ties with him at the time of the break in.
Jenkins told the court that DePape had “several targets” that night that included a local professor and several prominent state and federal politicians, in addition to Nancy Pelosi, FOX News reported.
He also planned to go after some of those lawmakers’ family members, according to court documents.
CNN reported that DePape grew up in Powell River, British Columbia and had “left Canada about 20 years ago to pursue a relationship that brought him to California.”
Federal records showed that DePape most recently entered the United States as a temporary visitor in March of 2022 at the San Ysidro port of entry on the California-Mexico border, CNN reported.
Canadians who visit for business or pleasure may stay in the country for up to six months before they require a visa.
Watch the incident unfold in the video below. Warning – Graphic Content and Obscene Language:
#EXCLUSIVE
Just released police body camera video shows moments David DePape attacked Paul Pelosi at his# San Francisco homeWARNING: VIDEO IS GRAPHIC#PaulPelosi #BREAKING@Nbcbayarea pic.twitter.com/rQZriBvOCm
— Bigad Shaban (@BigadShaban) January 27, 2023
Sandy Malone
