Paul Pelosi attack suspect David DePape allegedly cited 'evil in Washington,' hammer displayed to judge
David DePape's preliminary hearing will determine if Paul Pelosi attack state case advances to trial
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}David DePape, the accused attacker of Paul Pelosi, appeared Wednesday in court where prosecutors played out body camera footage and the 911 call placed by the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
DePape was arrested Oct. 28 for allegedly attacking Paul Pelosi with a hammer inside the Pelosis' San Francisco home. Nancy Pelosi was in Washington, D.C., at the time.
At Wednesday’s preliminary hearing in San Francisco Superior Court, Judge Stephen Murphy will consider whether there’s enough evidence to proceed to trial. The hammer allegedly wielded by DePape was displayed on the stand during testimony from a San Francisco police officer who first responded to the Pelosi residence with a partner.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}San Francisco police Sgt. Carla Hurley, who interviewed DePape for about an hour on the day of the attack, also testified that DePape said that there was an "evil in Washington" and noted how Nancy Pelosi was second in line to the presidency. According to Hurley, DePape also listed other future intended targets, including Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, actor Tom Hanks and Hunter Biden, according to The Associated Press.
PELOSI ATTACK SUSPECT DAVID DEPAPE THE LATEST HIGH PROFILE CRIME INVOLVING AN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT
Local prosecutors charged DePape with attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and elder abuse. DePape has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges that include allegations he sought to kidnap Nancy Pelosi.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}David DePape in Berkeley, California, on Dec. 13, 2013. (Michael Short/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
In the clip of the 911 call played in court, Paul Pelosi tells the dispatcher, "There's a gentleman here waiting for my wife to come back, Nancy Pelosi." He also says he does not know the man.
"I don’t know who he is. He’s telling me not to do anything. He’s telling me to put the phone down and do what he says," Paul Pelosi is heard saying. Another voice chimes in, "My name’s David."
David DePape records the nude wedding of Gypsy Taub outside City Hall on Dec. 19, 2013, in San Francisco. DePape was known in Berkeley, California, as a pro-nudity activist who picketed naked at protests against local ordinances requiring people to be clothed in public. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
"He wants me to get off the phone," Pelosi adds, according to local reporter Natalie Hanson.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Body-worn camera footage played in court Wednesday reportedly showed DePape striking Paul Pelosi.
San Francisco police officer Kyle Cagney took the stand, describing how he and his partner took about four minutes to respond to the Pelosi residence, which they knew from a prior incident, and rang the doorbell.
The door opened quickly, and he said they saw two men holding onto the same hammer.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}General views of the home in Oakland, California, which is believed to be have been the one-time residence of David DePape, on Oct. 28, 2022. (Flightrisk for Fox News Digtal)
About five feet from the threshold, the two men struggled as the officers asked what was going on. DePape said, "Nothing," until taking control of the hammer and striking Pelosi in the head.
Officers are also heard yelling, "Drop the hammer!," and DePape responded, "Uh, nope."
The officers quickly tackled DePape, and Pelosi fell to the ground, where he laid facedown and motionless, appearing to be unconscious in a pool of blood, Cagney said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Cagney also removed from an evidence bag what’s believed to be the hammer used in the attack.
The San Francisco home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Paul Pelosi is seen after police say David DePape assaulted Paul Pelosi on Oct. 28, 2022. (KGO-TV)
Interviewed while groggy at the hospital afterward, Pelosi told a sergeant that DePape called out, "Where's Nancy?"
Before the preliminary hearing Wednesday, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins already outlined what allegedly happened in a court filing. "Where’s Nancy? Where’s Nancy?" DePape allegedly said upon waking 82-year-old Paul Pelosi from his bed that night, according to Jenkins.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Pelosi later told a dispatcher he didn’t know the man, but DePape answered, "I’m a friend of theirs."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and husband Paul Pelosi attend the 45th Kennedy Center Honors at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 4, 2022. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
The filing says DePape later allegedly told officers and medics at the scene, "I’m sick of the insane f---ing level of lies coming out of Washington, D.C. I came here to have a little chat with his wife."
Jenkins also cited body-worn camera footage from officers as part of the investigation.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Meanwhile, an FBI affidavit submitted in the federal case cites a recorded interview with San Francisco police detectives afterward. That’s when DePape allegedly told investigators that he viewed Nancy Pelosi as the "leader of the pack" of lies told by the Democratic Party and later explained that by breaking the House speaker’s kneecaps, she would then have to be wheeled into Congress.
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The federal indictment also alleges that once DePape was restrained, officers secured a roll of tape, white rope, a second hammer, a pair of rubber and cloth gloves and zip ties from the crime scene, where officers also observed a broken glass door to the back porch.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Immigration and Customs Enforcement has since issued a detainer for DePape. He is an illegal immigrant from Canada who first entered the U.S. through Mexico in 2008.
Paul Pelosi made his first public appearance after the attack on Dec. 4, when he and his wife attended the 45th Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C.