The suspect in the attack on Paul Pelosi, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband, pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and other charges on Tuesday during his first court appearance.
The individual, identified as 42-year-old David DePape, previously broke into the San Francisco home of House Speaker Pelosi and struck her husband with a hammer. The attack left the official unconscious for three minutes as he lay in a pool of his own blood.
Nancy Pelosi House Attack
DePape told police that he also had other targets, including a local professor, and several prominent state and federal politicians. New details of the attack that law enforcement personnel say were motivated by the suspect's desire to take Ms. Pelosi hostage, interrogate her, and break her kneecaps if she lied to him were revealed in a court filing on Tuesday.
The suspect pleaded not guilty to several state felony charges after investigators claimed that he broke into the Pelosi residence last week and demanded to talk with the House Speaker who was in Washington at the time, as per the New York Times.
In the filing of local prosecutors on Tuesday, they provided new and chilling details about the incident, including how the victim, in a terrifying situation, was still able to call 911 while he was hiding in the bathroom and DePape was inside his home.
The filing also offers insights into a disturbed man who was seemingly enthralled by the conspiracy theories that have portrayed the house speaker as an enemy of the country. After the suspect broke into the residence by busting a glass door on the back porch, he found Mr. Pelosi sleeping in his bedroom shortly after 2:00 a.m.
According to CNBC, the Department of Justice also charged DePape with two federal crimes, attempted kidnapping of a federal official and assaulting an immediate family member of a United States official with the intent to retaliate against the official.
David DePape Pleads Not Guilty
In his first court appearance, the suspect was seen unshaven with long hair while wearing an orange jumpsuit and his arm in a sling due to a dislocated shoulder. The suspect's public defender, Adam Lipson, said that his client was being held without bail, adding that another hearing was scheduled for Friday.
The suspect also told police that he was on a "suicide mission," based on the Tuesday court filing. It also noted that the victim was knocked unconscious by the hammer attack and woke up several minutes later.
DePape, in court, only spoke to tell Judge Diane Northway how to pronounce his name (dih-PAP'). Lipson, after the hearing, said that he looked forward to providing the suspect with a "vigorous defense." He added that he first met DePape on Monday night but was not able to review police reports yet.
The suspect was now known to US Capitol Police and he was not in any federal databases that were tracking threats. However, he had been found to have shared memes and conspiracy theories on Facebook regarding COVID-19 vaccines, the 2020 election, and the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol building, CNN reported.
Related Article: Nancy Pelosi Home Attack: Suspect Wanted to Kidnap and Interrogate House Speaker, Break Her Kneecaps If She Lied
