Suspect in Pelosi case charged with attempted kidnapping, assault

Federal prosecutors on Monday charged David DePape with attempting to kidnap U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, three days after he allegedly entered her San Francisco home and attacked her husband, Paul Pelosi.

DePape is accused of breaking into the house and striking Paul Pelosi with a hammer, leaving him with a fractured skull and serious injuries to his right arm and hand.

The U.S. Justice Department also charged him with assaulting the relative of a federal official. If convicted, DePape could face up to 20 years in prison for the attempted kidnapping charge and up to 30 years for the assault charge.

According to prosecutors, DePape was carrying “a roll of tape, white rope, a second hammer, a pair of rubber and cloth gloves, and zip ties” as well as the hammer he used to injure Pelosi’s husband.

DePape reportedly went into a bedroom where Paul Pelosi was asleep and told him he was “looking for Nancy” Pelosi. The attack with the hammer didn’t occur until after police responded to Paul Pelosi’s 911 call and arrived at the residence.

The house speaker, a California Democrat, has been the target of Republican attacks for years. On January 6, 2021, some of the Trump supporters who breached the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to stop lawmakers from certifying the 2020 election results called her by name as they roamed the building.

A Republican Senate primary candidate referred to Pelosi as “Crazyface Pelosi” in an ad this year, while former President Donald Trump frequently called her “Crazy Nancy.”

According to research firm AdImpact, Republicans have spent more than $227 million on advertisements featuring Pelosi since 2018, airing them nearly 530,000 times. Such ads have aired roughly 143,000 this year.

Originally published at Commondreams.org.