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| Photo Credit: AP. |
California District Attorney has brought forward felony charges in addition to federal charges against Paul Pelosi’s attacker David DePape who assaulted the 82-year-old husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with a hammer at his San Francisco home.
At a press conference
on Monday San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said the 42-year-old
suspect is facing charges of attempted murder, residential burglary, assault
with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, false imprisonment of an elder, and threats
to a public official, according to the Washington Examiner.
"What
is clear based on the evidence that we have thus far is that this house, and
the speaker herself, were specifically targets of the defendant," Jenkins
said, adding the attack was "politically motivated."
Also on
Monday before the announcement of state charges, federal prosecutors charged
Depape with one count of attempted kidnapping of a U.S. official and one count
of assault of an immediate family member of a U.S. official, according to the
Washington Examiner.
DePape who
is expected to be arraigned Tuesday faces up to 30 years for attempted kidnapping
of Nancy Pelosi and 20 years for
assaulting Paul Pelosi if convicted. Jenkins said the suspect faces a minimum
of 13 years to life with the charges.
DePape
entered the speaker’s family home after he broke the glass at about 2:27 a.m.,
armed with a hammer and zip ties, the federal complaint revealed. He immediately
restrained Paul Pelosi when he discovered that Nancy Pelosi was not present at
home. But Pelosi escaped and called the police
DePape said
he intended to break Nancy Pelosi knee caps if he caught her and she lied to
him as per anticipated conversation but said he planned t let her go if she
told him the truth.
Paul Pelosi
was "admitted to Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital where he
underwent successful surgery to repair a skull fracture and serious injuries to
his right arm and hands. His doctors expect a full recovery," according to
a spokesperson for Nancy Pelosi, the Washington Examiner reported.
U.S. Capitol
Police said the speaker was in Washington, D.C., with her security details at
the time of the attack, according to The Hill.
Pelosi suffered blunt force trauma to his head and body and was treated for a number of injuries and bruising after the attacker smashed him with a hammer, according to The Associated Press.