Washington
CNN
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Disturbing new details have emerged in the attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, including that the alleged attacker told police he was on a ‘suicide mission’ and had a list of other important targets.
“This was not a random act of violence. This was not a random residential burglary. This was something that was specifically targeted,” San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said Tuesday.
Here’s what we currently know about the attack.
The alleged suspect, David DePape42, told officers and medics at the scene that he had had enough of the “level of lies” coming from Washington, DC, and “came here to have a little chat with [Pelosi’s] woman,” according to a court filing Tuesday.
“I didn’t really mean to hurt him, but you know it was a suicide mission.” I’m not going to sit here idly even if it costs me my life,” DePape reportedly said.
DePape named several targets, according to the filing, including prominent state and federal politicians and their relatives.
Jenkins confirmed to CNN on Tuesday that authorities believe DePape has other “targets” besides the Speaker of the House.
Asked by CNN’s Erin Burnett about the suspect’s alleged plans, Jenkins said that “there were other officials who were apparently his targets, and obviously he showed up to the speaker first.” The case, Jenkins said, is still “very recent” and she declined to give specific details about who had been a potential target.
DePape was “cooperative” with police and “subjected to a lengthy interview” before being represented by an attorney, according to the district attorney.
United States Capitol Police learned for the first time of the break-in at the San Francisco home about 10 minutes after the incident, when an officer noticed police lights and sirens on a live camera in the Capitol Police Command Center in Washington, D.C., according to an informed source of the attack.
CNN previously reported that there may be burglary video that U.S. Capitol police and law enforcement may look into because there are security cameras in the home, according to two law enforcement sources.
The San Francisco Police Department stopped regularly posting a patrol car outside Pelosi’s home last year, according to two additional sources.
Pope entered a plea of not guilty Tuesday at all state charges during his initial court appearance.
He also waived his right to a hearing within 10 days during his arraignment in a San Francisco courtroom. Judge Diane Northway has scheduled a November 4 hearing in San Francisco Superior Court to set a date for the preliminary hearing and bail.
DePape has been charged with a litany of crimes, including assault, attempted murder and attempted kidnapping, in connection with last week’s break-in.
The attempted kidnapping charge carries a maximum of 20 years in prison. He has yet to appear in federal court.
DePape’s attorney, Adam Lipson, said outside the courtroom, “There’s been a lot of speculation, a lot of rumor, just based on the nature of this case. So I’m not going to add to all the speculation by talking about the facts of this case at this time.
“What I will say is that there’s been a lot of speculation about Mr. DePape’s vulnerability to misinformation and that’s definitely something that we’re going to look at, that we’re going to dig into, as a team. defense, but again, it would be premature to talk about that right now,” Lipson said.
U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger said Tuesday the agency was “engaged in a review” of the incident and said the current political climate require more resources for the physical safety of members of Congress.
“We believe the current political climate requires more resources to provide additional layers of physical security for members of Congress,” Manger said in a written statement.
“This plan would focus on adding layoffs to the measures already in place for the leadership of Congress. I hope you will understand that we cannot disclose the details of these improvements as our country cannot afford to make it easy for any potential bad actor,” he added.
Manger also said Capitol Police have “worked diligently to investigate reported threats, improve intelligence gathering and analysis, and strengthen our partnerships with law enforcement across the country to keep residents safe.” members when traveling outside of Washington, DC”.
Rep. California Democrat Zoe Lofgren told CNN’s Brianna Keilar on Tuesday that lawmakers will not be safer “until we say what the root cause of this political violence is.”
“RNC Leader Ronna McDaniel along with Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy have expressed their sadness for Paul Pelosi. But then he added that “it’s really a proceeds of crime – it’s the Democrats’ fault.”
“It’s like saying that Lee Harvey Oswald was connected to crime in Dallas or that John Wilkes Booth was the result of a crime problem at Ford’s Theater. Not only is that ridiculous, but it’s part of the problem of dismissing this who is causing this violence,” Lofgren said.
Just a day after issuing a lukewarm but grounded statement about the incident, former President Donald Trump fanned the flames of a baseless conspiracy about the attack.
“Strange things have happened in this household over the past two weeks,” Trump said. “You know, probably, you and I better not talk about it. The glass, it seems, was shattered from the inside out and, you know, so it wasn’t a break-in, it was an escape,” the former president told the radio host Chris Stigall.
Trump went on to say that he was “not a fan of Nancy Pelosi”, but what happened was “very sad”. He added: “It’s all crazy. I mean, if there’s even a little truth in what’s being said, it’s crazy. But the window was broken into and it was strange that the cops were standing there practically from the time it all happened.
In the days following the attack, several right-wing personalities have come up with conspiracy theories about the attack – including that Paul Pelosi and the intruder were gay lovers who had fallen out.
The false theory dates back to incorrect early reporting and a handful of evidence that its proponents took out of context. This goes completely against the explanation given by the police and federal law enforcement.
“There is absolutely no evidence that Mr. Pelosi knew this man,” San Francisco Police Chief William Scott told CNN in an interview. “In fact, the evidence points to the exact opposite.”
Also on Tuesday, Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake — whose embrace of Trump’s political brand has been a central part of her campaign — claimed she was not shedding light on the assault earlier in the week despite a clear joke about the lack of security at Pelosis’s home.
In contrast, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican who drew criticism last week after he referred to the attack as part of a political hit on Nancy Pelosi, expressed regret for his remark.
“At the end of the day, I really wanted to convey the fact that what happened to President Pelosi’s husband was atrocious. And I didn’t do a great job,” he said. Told Punchbowl News.