The Justice Department charged 42-year-old David DePape with assault and attempted kidnapping, following the alleged break-in at the Pelosi home in California.
David DePape, the suspect charged in the attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband early Friday, allegedly woke 82-year-old Paul Pelosi from his bed.
He also owned a sword, compared himself to the Founding Fathers and told police he wanted to “lure” another person — all according to a federal charging document released Monday, along with a statement from San Francisco’s district attorney.
The Justice Department charged 42-year-old DePape with assault and attempted kidnapping of the speaker following the alleged break-in at the Pelosi home in California. He was a follower of political conspiracy theories, including the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, announcing five separate felony charges against DePape later Monday, suggested the attack was politically motivated.
“It is incumbent upon us all to watch the words we say and to turn down the volume of our political rhetoric,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins’ office on Monday charged DePape with attempted murder, residential burglary, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, false imprisonment of an elder, and threats to a public official and their family.
The alleged attacker “specifically targeted the Pelosi home to confront Speaker Pelosi,” Jenkins said.
Here are five new details included in the federal charging document or discussed at Monday’s news conference in San Francisco.