A court on Friday released graphic video and audio recordings from the night Paul Pelosi, the husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was attacked with a hammer in the family's San Francisco home last year.
The release, which includes police body camera video and a recording of Pelosi’s 911 call, was ordered earlier this week by a San Francisco Superior Court judge in response to a legal motion from a coalition of media organizations, including KQED.
David DePape, who is being charged with attempted murder in the attack, broke into Pelosi's home in Pacific Heights in the early morning of Oct. 28, and demanded to see Nancy Pelosi, who was not home at the time. DePape reportedly told Paul Pelosi he would wait for her.
The recording of Pelosi's call to 911, made just after 2:20 a.m., lasts less than three minutes. "There's a gentleman here waiting for my wife to come back, Nancy Pelosi," he calmly tells the dispatcher.
"Is the Capitol Police around? They're usually here protecting my wife," Pelosi asks, in an apparent effort to subtly hint at the urgency of the situation, without setting off DePape.
When the operator asks Pelosi if he needs the police or fire department to come, Pelosi directs the question to DePape, asking, "What do you think?"
Pelosi then tells the dispatcher, "He thinks everything's good. I've got a problem. ... He's telling me to put the phone down."
Within minutes, at least two San Francisco police officers knocked on Pelosi's door, which, in the video, either Pelosi or DePape slowly opens. The officers encounter the two men standing next to each other, each with a hand on a single hammer, police body camera footage shows. Pelosi appears to be in his boxer shorts.
Warning: This police bodycam video includes scenes of graphic violence.
When the police order DePape to "drop the hammer," he says, "No," yanks the hammer away from Pelosi and, after a brief scuffle, lunges at him, hitting Pelosi in the head with it.
One of the officers yells, "Oh, shit!," before at least two of them rush through the door and tackle DePape.
In the footage, Pelosi is seen lying facedown on the floor, with DePape's legs and feet on top of his back.
"Give me your fucking hand," an officer yells twice to DePape as he tries to handcuff him. The police then call for emergency medical assistance for Pelosi. The tape ends after less than two minutes.
Pelosi, 82, was taken to San Francisco General Hospital, where he underwent surgery for a skull fracture. He remained there for almost a week, before being released. He is still recovering from the attack but has recently been seen at several events with his wife, including a visit to the White House.
Hours after the release of the footage, Nancy Pelosi said she had not watched any of it.
"I have absolutely no intention of seeing the deadly assault on my husband’s life," she said, adding that she would not comment any further on the incident.
The court also released an audio recording of a female police officer interrogating DePape after the incident. DePape acknowledges that he broke the glass on Pelosi's downstairs door to enter the home.
"It was not easy," DePape says, adding that he likely cut his hand in the process.
The officer, whose tone is calm and empathetic, elicits a full confession from DePape, who describes what he did and why. His explanation begins with a conspiracy-laden political analysis of U.S. politics.
The officer asks DePape if he thinks Nancy Pelosi had done anything to him. He responds, "Not me personally. But to the American people," and refers to "all the fucking lies."
The attack on Pelosi is among a growing number of violent and sometimes deadly incidents targeting political figures that have been at least partly fueled by unfounded online conspiracy theories.
In the interview with the officer, DePape describes the encounter with Pelosi as "mostly amiable ... except for that," referring to the hammer attack.
