Court Releases Video of Paul Pelosi Hammer Attack, Adding Chilling Details - The New York Times

WASHINGTON — A constabulary serviceman arrives astatine the beforehand doorway of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s location successful San Francisco successful the predawn hours of Oct. 28, 2022, to find her hubby Paul Pelosi, 82, and an intruder lasting unneurotic calmly but awkwardly successful the foyer, each clutching other ends of a hammer.

Within seconds, the tense quiescent is shattered: Ordered to driblet the hammer, the intruder concisely scuffles with Mr. Pelosi earlier raising the instrumentality supra his caput and lunging toward Mr. Pelosi. Panicked officers unreserved wrong to effort to subdue the assailant, arsenic Mr. Pelosi lies motionless connected his broadside making guttural sounds.

The graphic and harrowing country unfolds successful a astir 90-second clip of constabulary assemblage camera footage released connected Friday by a San Francisco tribunal successful the proceedings of David DePape, the antheral who has been charged with assaulting Mr. Pelosi. The speaker’s hubby would spell connected to spend six days successful a San Francisco hospital and acquisition country for a skull fracture. It was an bonzer depiction of a brutal enactment of governmental violence, which stemmed from an effort to abduct Ms. Pelosi, who astatine the clip was 2nd successful enactment to the presidency.

The assemblage camera video and abstracted surveillance footage from extracurricular the location that captured the minutes earlier Mr. DePape gained entree to the Pelosi location disproved groundless claims circulated connected the acold close and amplified astatine each levels of Republican politics that the battle was an wrong occupation oregon a screen communicative for a sordid concern involving Mr. Pelosi.

But alternatively than quell specified conspiracy theorizing, the documentary grounds lone fed the rhythm that began successful the contiguous aftermath of the attack, erstwhile erstwhile President Donald J. Trump and Republican lawmakers were among those questioning the authoritative account.

“No substance what happens, nary substance what footage we have, what documents we have, radical thin to rotation narratives to enactment their broadside of the story,” said Nina Jankowicz, a disinformation expert. “We conscionable spot this distrust of what you tin spot with your ain eyes implicit and implicit and implicit again.”

Mr. DePape himself was intelligibly influenced to transportation retired the onslaught by right-wing conspiracy theories helium learned astir online. In an interrogation with a San Francisco detective hours aft the attack, helium made wide helium had afloat bought into lies astir the 2020 election. He described Ms. Pelosi arsenic the “leader of the pack” of lying Democrats who spent 4 years undermining Mr. Trump, “until they were yet capable to bargain the election.”

The caller grounds underscored the spontaneous quality of the attack. In the constabulary interview, Mr. DePape said helium had been looking for Ms. Pelosi, a governmental fig who for decades has been demonized and dehumanized by Republicans, and that helium planned to kidnap her, interruption her kneecaps and spot her “wheeled into Congress.” Ms. Pelosi was not location the nighttime of the attack.

In a brief, affectional connection to reporters astatine the Capitol connected Friday, Ms. Pelosi said she did not program to presumption oregon perceive to immoderate of the footage released publically and would not beryllium commenting astir the incidental oregon the lawsuit again.

“I person perfectly nary volition of seeing the deadly battle connected my husband’s life,” Ms. Pelosi said. “I won’t beryllium making immoderate much statements astir this lawsuit arsenic it proceeds, but to again convey radical and pass them of Paul’s progress.”

When asked however helium was doing, Ms. Pelosi said simply that helium was “coming along.”

Alongside the merchandise of a 911 telephone Mr. Pelosi placed portion the intruder was successful the location and an interrogation the fishy gave successful which helium said helium was looking for Ms. Pelosi, the worldly present successful the nationalist realm provides an astir implicit representation of what happened during the onslaught and the governmental motivations of the attacker.

In the 911 call, Mr. Pelosi tin beryllium heard speaking calmly and choosing his words carefully, arsenic helium tries to convey to a constabulary dispatcher that helium is successful information without straight saying thing to choler the intruder, who is seemingly listening in.

“There’s a man present conscionable waiting for my woman to travel back, Nancy Pelosi,” Mr. Pelosi says. “She’s not going to beryllium present for a day, truthful I conjecture I’ll person to wait.”

Eventually, Mr. DePape appears to beryllium losing patience with Mr. Pelosi, who tells the dispatcher, “He wants maine to get the hellhole disconnected the phone, OK?”

The onslaught and consequent merchandise of the video travel astatine a clip erstwhile politically motivated unit is connected the emergence and lawmakers are profoundly acrophobic astir however to support themselves and their families against superior threats.

“We unrecorded successful unsafe times of unprecedented extremism and governmental unit which person nary spot successful our ideology oregon successful the mundane lives of elected officials and their loved ones,” Representative Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York and number leader, said connected Friday.

Also released Friday was Capitol Police surveillance footage of the Pelosi residence that showed the fishy breaking into the location done a backmost door. The materials were released aft a ineligible effort by a consortium of media outlets, including The New York Times.

The surveillance video shows Mr. DePape casing the location for respective minutes earlier entering, astatine 1 constituent carrying 2 backpacks — a country that Capitol Police officials would person seen had they been monitoring the provender from the Pelosi location the nighttime of the attack. But Ms. Pelosi was not contiguous astatine the time, and important minutes went by earlier immoderate serviceman reviewed the footage.

Since the attack, galore elected officials person been pressing for much extortion for lawmakers and their families, and the surveillance footage was definite to amplify questions astir the effect of the Capitol Police.

Unlike presidents, who person round-the-clock information provided by the Secret Service and paid for by taxpayers, including abstracted extortion for their household members, astir members of Congress person small government-provided security, and their families seldom person any.

As talker of the House, Ms. Pelosi had a ample information item with her astatine each times. But that extortion does not widen to household members.

For years, Ms. Pelosi, whose speakership ended this month, has been 1 of the astir threatened members of Congress, successful portion ‌‌because of a coordinated effort by Republicans to people the astir almighty pistillate successful American politics. In advertisements and fund-raising appeals designed to anger, scare and animate their halfway supporters, they for years person portrayed Ms. Pelosi, a affluent pistillate from the progressive bastion of San Francisco, arsenic the astir sinister Democratic villain of all.

The suspect, Mr. DePape, 43, faces galore felony charges successful authorities court, including attempted execution and battle with a deadly weapon. He besides faces national charges of attempted kidnapping of a national serviceman and battle connected a household subordinate of a national official. If convicted, helium would look the anticipation of beingness successful prison. He has pleaded not guilty, and the adjacent proceeding successful the lawsuit is scheduled for Feb. 23, erstwhile a proceedings day volition beryllium set.

Mr. Pelosi has been dilatory recovering since the attack. In caller weeks, helium has attended immoderate high-profile events with his wife, including Ms. Pelosi’s representation unveiling and the Kennedy Center Honors. At some events, helium wore a chapeau to screen immoderate disposable caput wounded and a acheronian mitt to screen the manus that had been wounded. Earlier this month, Mr. Pelosi sat successful the House assemblage overlooking the level arsenic members formed what would beryllium their archetypal of 15 votes to elite a caller speaker. Still, Ms. Pelosi and her household members person been candid astir the agelong roadworthy helium faces earlier helium tin marque a afloat recovery.

“He’s been retired a spot due to the fact that the doc said helium has to person thing to look guardant to, and truthful again, 1 time astatine a time,” Ms. Pelosi told CNN’s Chris Wallace successful a caller interview. “He had wounds and each the remainder successful that connected his body. Those took time, but they healed. Tendons, you cognize each that stuff. But the caput is simply a antithetic thing.”

Ms. Pelosi said that with a superior caput injury, “you person to beryllium cautious astir movement. You person to beryllium cautious astir light. You person to beryllium cautious astir sound. And it conscionable takes a while. You get precise tired, but, you know, without going truthful further into it, but it takes, it volition instrumentality astir apt different 3 oregon 4 months, according to the doctors, for him to beryllium truly himself.”

According to his girl Alexandra Pelosi, Mr. Pelosi was ne'er profoundly political, contempt being joined to the astir almighty Democratic relation successful the country. His ellipse of friends included galore Republicans, and helium forbid the household to sermon authorities astatine the meal table.

But Mr. Pelosi played an invaluable behind-the-scenes relation for his woman implicit her years starring House Democrats, a reasonably unglamorous relation that was connected show successful a caller HBO documentary astir Ms. Pelosi made by Alexandra Pelosi.

Mr. Pelosi, a multimillionaire task capitalist, took attraction of what his household referred to arsenic the “business of living,” buying crockery towels, doing the dishes, dealing with contractors and adjacent buying for his wife’s clothes, leaving her escaped to absorption each of her vigor connected her work.

“He’s remained retired of the limelight arsenic overmuch arsenic helium could,” Alexandra Pelosi said successful a caller interview. “He astir got to the extremity without anyone knowing who helium was.”