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What We Know About the Attack on Nancy Pelosi’s Husband

Paul Pelosi, 82, underwent surgery for a skull fracture after he was assaulted at the couple’s home in San Francisco, and was expected to recover, a spokesman for Ms. Pelosi said.

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Paul Pelosi, the husband of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was hospitalized after he was assaulted by an intruder, who broke into the couple’s residence.CreditCredit...Jim Wilson

Follow the latest on the attack on Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband.

Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was assaulted by a man who broke into the couple’s house in San Francisco early on Friday morning and attacked him with a hammer, the authorities said.

Three San Francisco police officers responding to an emergency call burst into the Pelosis’ San Francisco home just before 2:30 a.m. local time on Friday to find Mr. Pelosi, 82, and an intruder grappling over a hammer, the authorities said

The intruder ripped the hammer out of Mr. Pelosi’s grip and “violently assaulted him with it” in front of the officers, Chief William Scott of the San Francisco police said at a news conference.

The officers tackled the assailant and disarmed him, Chief Scott said, before requesting backup and giving medical aid. Both men were taken to a hospital, he said.

A spokesman for Ms. Pelosi, Drew Hammill, said in a statement on Friday that Mr. Pelosi underwent surgery after sustaining a skull fracture and serious injuries to his hands and right arm and was expected to make a full recovery.

It was Mr. Pelosi who had called 911 from a bathroom after the intruder broke through a back door of the home. He had a veiled conversation with a police dispatcher, who recognized the situation as dire, bringing a rapid police response, the San Francisco district attorney, Brooke Jenkins, said in a news conference late Friday.

A suspect, David DePape, 42, was charged by federal prosecutors with attempting to kidnap Ms. Pelosi and with assaulting a relative of a federal official, according to charging documents filed on Monday.

Later on Monday, Ms. Jenkins announced state charges. Mr. DePape was charged with six felonies: attempted murder, residential burglary, elder abuse, assault with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment of an elder and threatening family members of public officials. Ms. Jenkins, said on Twitter that Mr. DePape would be arraigned on Tuesday.

Mr. DePape was looking to interrogate Ms. Pelosi, who was not home at the time, on an unspecified political matter, according to the federal complaint. If she told the “truth,” he would let her go, but if she “lied,” he intended to break her “kneecaps,” forcing her to be wheeled into Congress as a lesson to other Democrats, Mr. DePape told police officers in an interview.

He had “a roll of tape, white rope, a second hammer, a pair of rubber and cloth gloves, and zip ties” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, which filed the charges.

The authorities have been examining what appeared to be Mr. DePape’s extensive online presence, which included angry rants and extremist views. From August until the day before the attack on Mr. Pelosi, a blog written by a user who called himself “daviddepape” featured antisemitic sentiments as well as concerns about pedophilia, anti-white racism and “elite” control of the internet.

Ms. Pelosi was in Washington with her protective detail at the time of the break-in, the Capitol Police said.

The Pelosis have owned a three-floor red brick townhouse in San Francisco’s exclusive Pacific Heights neighborhood since 1987. In January 2021, after Congress passed a stimulus bill, their home was vandalized with graffiti, and a pig’s head was left on the sidewalk. The vandalism occurred before the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Since the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, members of Congress from both parties have experienced a surge in threats and confrontations, including stalking, armed visits to their homes and assaults.

Mr. Pelosi is a real estate and technology investor. He met Ms. Pelosi at Georgetown University in Washington, and they married in 1963.

He was also in the news in August, when he pleaded guilty to a single count of driving under the influence of alcohol in connection with a car accident in Napa County, Calif., where the Pelosis own a vineyard. He was sentenced to five days in jail, though he did not have to serve that time, and eight hours of community service.

The White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, said on Friday that President Biden had called Ms. Pelosi and that he was praying for Mr. Pelosi and the Pelosi family. “The President continues to condemn all violence, and asks that the family’s desire for privacy be respected,” Ms. Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

Amanda Holpuch is a general assignment reporter. More about Amanda Holpuch

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