Alleged Pelosi attacker, DePape, indicted by federal grand jury
David DePape in an undated photo. Anonymous source provided.
SAN FRANCISCO - The man accused of attacking U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband with a hammer in the Pelosi home last month, was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury.
David DePape, was charged with attempted kidnapping of an officer and employee of the U.S. government and with the assault on Paul Pelosi in what has been labeled a targeted attack against the Speaker of the House on Oct. 28. In the second charge, the indictment states the attack showed intent to impede, intimidate, or interfere with and retaliate against the House Speaker while she was engaged in and on the account of the performance of her official duties.
The indictment was filed by U.S. Attorney Stephanie Hinds in U.S. District Court - Northern District of California San Francisco. DePape, 42, a fringe activist drawn to conspiracy theories is in custody.
The charges supersede those in an earlier federal complaint that was filed Oct. 31.
The court documents offer some new details from the middle-of-the night attack that awoke Paul Pelosi while he was sleeping and his wife was in Washington.
When two SFPD officers, with their body-worn cameras activated, responded to the Pelosi home in Pacific Heights, they asked what was going on, DePape told them, "everything is good." An officer instructed DePape to drop the hammer he and Pelosi were struggling over, to which DePape responded, "ummm nope."
DePape then began forcefully swinging the hammer at Pelosi, the indictment said.
Paul Pelosi's recollection of the events mirrors DePape's confession in key ways, according to the indictment. He said he was awakened by DePape who was asking where his wife was. The document states in a subsequent search of a backpack in DePape's possession, law enforcement found, among other things, a roll of tape, white rope, one hammer, and one pair of rubber and cloth gloves and a journal. SFPD had also found zip ties in the Pelosi residence. DePape told law enforcement he was going to use the zip ties to restrain Mr. Pelosi, "so that he could take a nap."
DePape told investigators he used, "full force" on Mr. Pelosi and that Speaker Pelosi was on his target list.
It was determined in a subsequent interview with DePape on Oct. 30, that the hammer did not belong to the Pelosi's.
A review of electronic evidence seized from DePape by law enforcement shows that DePape researched the Pelosi residence as recently as Oct. 26, two nights before the attack, according to the document. He allegedly researched the home address of another individual on his target list.
DePape's public defender, Adam Lipson, did not immediately respond to telephone and emailed messages from the Associated Press for their story.
Last week, a not guilty plea was entered on DePape's behalf in San Francisco Superior Court. A judge ordered DePape held without bail on the state charges of attempted murder, burglary and elder abuse. In addition, he's been placed on a federal hold in that case. If he is convicted on state charges in that case, he faces up to 13 years to life.
The first of the new charges carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison and the second a maximum 20 years in prison.
MORE: Man accused in Pelosi attack appears in court, pleads not guilty
Associated Press contributed to this story.