The video and audio recordings of the hammer attack on Paul Pelosi should raise almost as many questions as were asked before they were released.
Obtained on Friday by Fox News on the orders of a judge, the strange phone call to 911 and ensuing police body-camera footage at first don’t appear to reveal the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to have been in serious danger.
But in front of the cops, at the front door, suspect David DePape went berserk. The video clearly shows the brutal attack that fractured Pelosi’s skull.
Fox also obtained audio of DePape’s police interrogation.
Audio: “My Name Is David”
Also available is the footage from the Pelosis’ security camera, which shows David DePape hammering the back door of the mega-millionaire couple’s massive home in San Francisco three days before Halloween.
Capitol Hill cops weren’t watching the home.
DePape’s “highly suspicious activity did not prompt immediate action” because the home “was not being monitored in real time,” as the Daily Mail reported:
Capitol Police said in November that personnel were not actively monitoring the video feed because then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was in Washington at the time her husband was attacked by the hammer wielding suspect.
Most would think the House speaker’s spouse would get the same protection as the speaker, but at any rate, Paul Pelosi’s 911 call, also released because of Fox’s court action, is downright weird.
When the 911 operator asked whether he needed help, Pelosi said “Well, there is a gentleman here who is just waiting for my wife to come back, Nancy Pelosi”:
Pelosi: He is just waiting for her to come back, but she’s not going to be here for a day so I guess we’ll have to wait.
Operator: OK, do you need police, fire or medical for anything?
Pelosi: I don’t think so, I don’t think so.
Pelosi asked where the Capitol Hill police were, and the operator explained that she was speaking for San Francisco’s cops.
“OK, well I don’t know what do you think?” he asked DePape:
DePape: I think we’re OK.
Pelosi: He thinks everything is good, I’ve got a problem but he thinks everything is good.
Operator: OK, call us back if you change your mind.
Pelosi: No, no, this gentleman just came into the house, and he wants to wait here for my wife to come home.…
Operator: Do you know who the person is?
Pelosi: No I don’t know who he is … (inaudible)… he’s telling me not to do anything.…
After Pelosi said the “gentleman” told him to put down the phone, the operator asked for DePape’s name.
“My name is David,” DePape replied.
“’OK and who is David?” the operator asked:
Pelosi: I don’t know
DePape: I’m a friend of theirs.
Pelosi: He says he’s a friend, but I don’t know him.
Operator: But you don’t know who he is?
Pelosi: No ma’am … he’s telling me I’m being very leading, so I have to stop talking to you OK?
Operator: Are you sure? I can stay on the phone with you just to make sure everything is OK.
Pelosi: No, he wants me to get the hell off the phone.
Friend or foe, one can’t tell.
Body-cam Footage: “Nope”
At least until one sees the cops’ body-cam footage, which includes another bizarre exchange before the attack begins.
When cops knocked on the door, Pelosi, attired in a pajama top and boxers, appeared holding the business end of the hammer while DePape held the handle with his right hand. Pelosi also had a drink in his left hand.
“What’s going on, man?” an officer asked.
“Everything is good,” replied DePape, who grabbed Pelosi’s wrist with his left hand.
Cop: Drop the hammer!
DePape: Umm, nope.
That’s when DePape began his deranged attack.
DePape then tried to pull the hammer from Pelosi’s grasp. “Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!” the speaker’s 82-year-old husband said.
Once he had the hammer, DePape smashed Pelosi’s skull, repeatedly swinging until cops subdued him.
The video ends with noises that appear to be the unconscious Pelosi’s “agonal breathing,” a symptom of the heart’s pumping unoxygenated blood.
Understandably, Nancy Pelosi said she will not watch the video.
The Charges
DePape wanted to kill Nancy Pelosi, he told cops during his interrogation. Fox also obtained that audio.
“He was asleep. Like all that noise, he could not hear,” DePape said.
“I kind of told him that I’m like looking for Nancy Pelosi and he was like, ‘She’s not here,’ DePape continued. “He was like, ‘How can we resolve this?’”
Yet DePape still pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges.
State:
- Attempted murder;
- Assault with a deadly weapon;
- Elder abuse;
- Residential burglary;
- False imprisonment; and
- Threatening the life [of] or serious bodily harm to a public official.
DePape could land in prison from 13 years to life if convicted.
Federal:
- One count, assault of an immediate family member of a United States official with the intent to retaliate against the official on account of the performance of official duties; maximum sentence: 30 years; and
- One count, attempted kidnapping of a United States official on account of the performance of official duties; maximum sentence: 20 years.
