The official narrative about what, exactly, occurred at the Pelosi residence in San Francisco, California on Oct. 28, when suspect David DePape allegedly broke into the home and assaulted Paul Pelosi, the husband of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), has changed somewhat over the past couple of weeks.
The details of the alleged attack have been altered and clarified once again with a new federal grand jury indictment against DePape, the Los Angeles Times reported.
DePape now faces two federal felony charges as well as a slew of state-level felony charges to which he has already pleaded not guilty.
Clarified timeline of events
The new six-page grand jury indictment laid out a timeline of the incident based on interviews with Pelosi, DePape, and collected evidence and observations of the local responding police officers and investigators.
Pelosi first called 911 at 2:23 am about the unknown man who had entered the home in search of his wife, the House Speaker, and identified himself as “David” and a “friend.” Pelosi informed the man that his wife was not at home at the time and wouldn’t return for several days, but the intruder said he would “wait” until she came back, before ordering Pelosi to “get the hell off the phone.”
Less than 10 minutes later, at 2:31 am, San Francisco police officers arrived at the residence and, with their bodycams activated, knocked on the door. The indictment did not specify who opened the door, but noted that Pelosi and DePape, described as wearing shorts and a sweatshirt, were in the foyer “jointly gripping a hammer.”
After refusing an order to drop the hammer, DePape then wrestled the tool away from Pelosi, striking him in the head in the process. Police then rushed in and detained DePape while simultaneously calling for medical aid for the bleeding and wounded Pelosi.
Planned kidnapping; list of other targets
The indictment further alleged that DePape, who was in possession of zip ties, also had a backpack with him that, according to the police, contained a roll of tape, rope, gloves, another hammer, and a journal, among other things.
Per the interview with DePape, it is alleged that he had intended to use the zip ties to restrain Pelosi and take a nap, though the zip ties were also intended to be used on Speaker Pelosi, who the suspect had intended to kidnap and interrogate and severely injure as a message to other politicians.
DePape is also alleged to have confessed to a “target list” of other individuals, and a subsequent search the next day of DePape’s electronic devices revealed recent internet searches for Pelosi’s home address and information related to other targets on his list.
Could serve up to 50 years for assault and attempted kidnapping
According to a Justice Department news release about the new grand jury indictment, DePape has been charged with one count of “assault upon an immediate family member of a U.S. official” and one count of “attempted kidnapping of a U.S. official.”
If convicted, DePape could face a total of up to 50 years in federal prison, including up to 30 years for the assault charge and up to 20 years for the attempted kidnapping charge.