Nancy Pelosi now at San Francisco hospital with her husband

Police have talked to the man accused of attacking Paul Pelosi, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins told CNN on Friday.

Jenkins declined to provide additional details, saying, “given the investigation is still ongoing, none of that information is being released at this time.”

The suspect, David DePape, did sustain “some minor injuries,” she said, without providing any details.

Officers took DePape into custody on suspicion of attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse and several additional felonies, according to SFPD Chief William Scott.

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said Paul Pelosi called 911 while the alleged assailant was inside his home, helping the dispatcher expedite the police response early Friday morning.

“It is really thanks to Mr. Pelosi having the ability to be able to make that call, and truly the attention and the instincts of that dispatcher to realize that something was wrong in that situation and to make the police call a priority so they got there within two minutes to respond to this situation,” she told CNN on Friday.

Pelosi managed to keep the line open during the attack so that the dispatcher could hear a conversation in the background, according to a separate law enforcement source.

Officers entered the couple’s home around 2:27 a.m. local time (5:27 a.m. ET) to find Pelosi, 82, struggling over a hammer with another man, police said earlier Friday.

The struggle was captured on police body camera as officers came through the door to intervene, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.

CNN’s John Miller and Jamie Gangel contributed to this report

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is now at the hospital in San Francisco to see her husband, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Paul Pelosi underwent surgery for a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands, according to a statement from Speaker Pelosi’s spokesperson. He is expected to make a full recovery, it said.

Two blogs written by a user named “daviddepape” – the same name as the suspect in the attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband – featured antisemitic screeds and QAnon-linked content in recent weeks, including videos that involved Pelosi.

The content resembles posts from last year on DePape’s Facebook page, which was verified by two relatives. CNN was not able to confirm that the blogs were written by DePape.

One of the blogs, which has dozens of posts attributed to “daviddepape” in recent weeks, posted several videos supporting the QAnon conspiracy theory. One of the videos includes a shot of Pelosi swinging a gavel during one of former President Donald Trump’s impeachment proceedings, and another includes an image of Pelosi and other politicians. 

In another post, the account wrote “Adrenachrome is real,” referring to a substance that QAnon believers falsely claim is derived by torturing children. The post suggested “elites” traffic in the substance.

In other posts, the author used antisemitic language, posted videos accusing LGBTQ people of “grooming” children, and declared that “any journalist saying” there is no evidence of election fraud “should be dragged straight out into the street and shot.”

He most recently posted on Thursday, the day before the attack, linking a YouTube video that compared colleges to cults.

On a second website, a WordPress.com blog titled “God is loving,” someone with the username “daviddepape” wrote a string of posts over the course of several days in late August 2022. The author complained about censorship by tech companies and the media, posting numerous screenshots where text had been blacked out. The page has been taken offline.

Former Vice President Mike Pence on Friday evening called the attack on Paul Pelosi “an outrage.” 

Pence said in a tweet, “This is an outrage and our hearts are with the entire Pelosi family. We pray Paul will make a full recovery. There can be no tolerance for violence against public officials or their families. This man should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Read the tweet:

In an aerial view, San Francisco police officers and FBI agents gather in front of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s home in San Francisco, California on Friday.

It’s been a little more than 12 hours since a brutal attack on the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who wasn’t home when an intruder apparently came looking for her.

Law enforcement officials and CNN sources have filled in some of the details surrounding the attack on Paul Pelosi, but other questions remain unanswered.

What we know:

• Pelosi made a coded plea for help: Paul Pelosi called 911 when he encountered a threatening man in his home early Friday morning, according to a law enforcement source. He left the line open so a dispatcher could hear his conversation with the intruder, speaking surreptitiously but making it clear that he needed help.
• Officers witnessed the attack: San Francisco police entered the couple’s home around 2:27 a.m. local time (5:27 a.m. ET) to find Pelosi, 82, struggling over a hammer with another man, according to the city’s police chief. Officers saw the intruder “violently assault” Pelosi with the hammer before they tackled him to the ground and arrested him.
• The intruder seemed intent on finding the speaker: The person who attacked Paul Pelosi was searching for the Speaker of the House, according to a source briefed on the attack. He shouted “Where is Nancy?” at least twice and later, as he tried to tie up Paul Pelosi and said he would wait “until Nancy got home,” the source said. The speaker was in Washington, DC, at the time.
• Police named their suspect: Officers took David DePape, 42, into custody on suspicion of attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse and several additional felonies, according to SFPD Chief William Scott.
• The suspect’s online activities: The suspect had posted memes and conspiracy theories on Facebook about Covid-19 vaccines, the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 attack. A former acquaintance, who knew him for eight years, told CNN she had received “really disturbing” emails from DePape in the past.
• Pelosi is expected to recover: Pelosi underwent surgery for a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands, according to a statement from Speaker Pelosi’s office. He is expected to make a full recovery, it said.

What we still don’t know:

• What was the motive? Law enforcement officials say the motivation for the attack is still under investigation, declining so far to deem it an act of political violence. The suspect’s online activities and reported remarks at the home could play a part in that determination.
• What security measures were in place? The security detail for lawmakers, including the speaker, does not protect their spouses when the members of Congress are not with them. Police said the intruder entered through a back door. It wasn’t clear if he circumvented any security measures. Lawmakers have expressed concerns over their safety and that of their families.

Vice President Kamala Harris said she talked with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Friday morning, after Pelosi’s husband, Paul, was attacked with a hammer at the couple’s home in San Francisco.

Harris offered her prayers to the Pelosi family after what she called an “act of extreme violence,” and urged all leaders to think about their words and posture during a divisive time.

“I think we’re looking at a time in our country where there is so much discourse that is fueled by hate and division and anyone who professes to be a leader and he has to really understand that the meaning and the impact of their words and their posture,” she told reporters after a campaign stop in Pennsylvania.

The vice president said she believes everyone needs to “speak out against hate, speak out against violence,” adding that it’s still important to have “public discourse when there are disagreements about policies.”

“I pray for Paul’s recovery. I know the Pelosis and this is tragic. Somebody literally broke into their whole home, saying ‘Where’s Nancy?’” she said.

The man who is accused of assaulting Paul Pelosi was not known to US Capitol Police and was not in any federal databases tracking threats, according to three sources who were briefed on the investigation.

According to his social media accounts, David DePape did post memes and conspiracy theories on Facebook about Covid-19 vaccines, the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 attack.

He was booked Friday at San Francisco County Jail on charges of attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, verbal and several other additional felonies, according to San Francisco Police Chief William Scott and the sheriff’s office’s online inmate locator.

A reminder: These charges are just to book him into jail — they are not formal criminal charges by prosecutors.

Paul Pelosi underwent surgery Friday “to repair a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands,” according to a statement released by Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

She thanked people for the “outpouring of support and prayers” following an attack on her husband in their San Francisco home.

The statement, issued by spokesperson Drew Hammill, added:

“The Pelosi family is immensely grateful to Mr. Pelosi’s entire medical team and the law enforcement officers who responded to the assault.”

Pelosi is expected to make a full recovery, it said.

Paul Pelosi was able to call 911 at the start of the attack at his home in San Francisco, according to a law enforcement source and another source familiar with the matter.   

Pelosi managed to keep the line open and the dispatcher could hear a conversation in the background, according to the law enforcement source.

Pelosi was talking in code, that source said, providing enough detail so that the operator overhearing it could understand that something was wrong. At the same time Pelosi seemed to be trying not to make it obvious to the intruder that he had an open line, the source said.

The dispatcher could hear Pelosi speaking about what was going on and dispatched police to check on the house, the source said.

The struggle with Pelosi was captured on police body camera as officers came through the door to intervene, according to one of the sources. 

Glenn Youngkin speaks during a campaign event in McLean, Virginia on July 14, 2021.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, addressing the attack on Paul Pelosi, said that “there’s no room for violence anywhere,” but then added that voters would send House Speaker Nancy Pelosi home “to be with him in California.”

While stumping for GOP House candidate Yesli Vega in Virginia’s 7th District, Youngkin, also a Republican, told the crowd: “Speaker Pelosi’s husband had a break-in last night in their house, and he was assaulted. There’s no room for violence anywhere, but we’re gonna’ send her back to be with him in California. That’s what we’re going to go do.”

The comments came hours after Pelosi was attacked with a hammer at the couple’s home in San Francisco early Friday morning, law enforcement sources told CNN. The assailant was searching for the speaker of the House, according to a source briefed on the attack.

Youngkin spokeswoman Macaulay Porter responded to CNN’s request for additional comment with the following statement:

“As the governor clearly said, the assault on Paul Pelosi was wrong and there is no place for violence. He wishes him a full recovery and is keeping the Pelosi family in his prayers.”

CNN’s Eric Bradner contributed to this report

Speaker Nancy Pelosi was able to speak to her husband after the attack and before he was taken into surgery, according to a source familiar with the matter.  

She is flying back to San Francisco with her family to be with her husband, a source said.

Paul Pelosi was having surgery for injuries to his head, the source said but did not offer more details on the treatment. He is expected to make a full recovery, the Democratic speaker’s office said in a statement.

He was attacked by a man with a hammer at the couple’s home in San Francisco early Friday morning, law enforcement sources told CNN.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a press conference in San Francisco, on October 6.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a statement on the hammer attack at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s residence on Friday.

“This heinous assault is yet another example of the dangerous consequences of the divisive and hateful rhetoric that is putting lives at risk and undermining our very democracy and Democratic institutions,” Newsom wrote. “Those who are using their platforms to incite violence must be held to account.”

Newsom did not name anyone specific in denouncing hateful rhetoric.

Police have not shared a suspected motive for the brutal attack, but the intruder shouted “Where is Nancy?” before hitting Paul Pelosi with a hammer, according to a source briefed on the attack.

“Our leaders should never fear for their safety and the safety of their families in serving the people they were elected to represent – not in their homes, not at the U.S. Capitol, not anywhere,” the governor added.

Rep. Karen Bass speaks at a forum in Los Angeles, on Wednesday, Oct. 26.

California Rep. Karen Bass expressed concern for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband after he was attacked in the couple’s residence, saying it illustrates “the danger that our democracy is in.”

“I hear that he should recover, but the idea that he was violently attacked with a hammer is just frightening – the level of political discourse that our country is in right now, and it reminds me of Jan. 6 because when the insurrectionists broke in the Capitol, one of the first places they went was to the speaker’s office and they made clear that they were after her when they assaulted the Capitol,” she said in an interview with CNN’s Josh Campbell.

One Jan. 6 rioter was sentenced in August to seven years in prison for carrying a gun to the Capitol and threats to Pelosi.

“It just shows us the danger that our democracy is in and it also makes me angry thinking of my Republican colleagues who attempt to minimize what happened Jan. 6 and who ignored the hate speech, the violent speech that is going on right now,” Bass said.

She also echoed other lawmakers’ concerns over the safety of themselves and their families.

“It’s something you pay attention to, you watch your security, you have to be concerned. I certainly am concerned about my security, and I’m concerned for others, my colleagues that are in Congress, and frankly other people in elected office right now. It just shows you what a delicate position our democracy is in,” Bass said.

She laid the blame at the feet of former President Donald Trump.

“I think that we all thought on Election Day when Trump was defeated that the Trump era was over. Clearly, it is not over, and I put all of this at his doorstep because he is the one who sent our country in this direction,” she said.

Bass’ Los Angeles home was burgled in September.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington on Thursday, Oct. 13.

An increase in threats to US lawmakers over the last two years has also extended to their family members, according to federal law enforcement officials, and a lack of federal protection for family members has frustrated some members of Congress.

The security detail for lawmakers, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, does not protect their family members, including spouses, when the members of Congress are not with them, according to multiple sources. Some lawmakers have received additional security in their home districts from local police departments and private contractors. 

After the attack on Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger told CNN that the threats against his own family included one that mentioned killing his young child. But when he asked US Capitol Police for additional security, they essentially told him to “get in line,” Kinzinger said. 

Like other lawmakers, Kinzinger’s security detail does not protect his family when he is not with them, and the lack of assistance provided by Capitol Police has meant his campaign would have to foot the bill for any additional security.

Calls for violence against lawmakers online and elsewhere have referenced both elected officials and their families, according to sources familiar with the threat environment who told CNN that law enforcement agencies have been grappling with how to address those threats in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. 

In the months following the Jan. 6 insurrection, Capitol Police and other law enforcement agencies worked to increase protection for members of Congress when they are in Washington, DC, and traveling back to their home districts. 

Capitol Police declined to comment when asked Friday about security for the families of lawmakers. 

A senior aide on Capitol Hill tells CNN that Capitol Police are now assessing additional security options for the protection of families of congressional leadership.

Federal law enforcement agencies have consistently warned about the increasing threat of politically motivated violence after Jan. 6, raising specific concerns about the likelihood that online calls for violence result in real-world attacks.

According to the most recent statistics, Capitol Police tracked roughly 9,600 threats in 2021 against the people and places the department is charged with protecting. It’s unclear how many threats were made against family members.

Several lawmakers have sought additional protection from US Capitol Police after receiving threats to their families, but the agency largely lacks the resources and training to fill those requests, according to one source familiar with the matter.

Two former acquaintances of David DePape, the suspect in Paul Pelosi’s attack, told CNN he exhibited concerning behavior over the years. 

Linda Schneider said she got to know DePape roughly eight years ago and that he occasionally housesat for her in California. When they met, she said, DePape was living in a storage unit in the Berkeley area and told her he had been struggling with hard drugs but was “trying to create a new life for himself.”

Schneider later received “really disturbing” emails from DePape in which he sounded like a “megalomaniac and so out of touch with reality,” she said. She said she stopped communicating with him “because it seemed so dangerous,” adding that she recalled him “using Biblical justification to do harm.” 

Laura Hayes, who also lives in California, said she worked with DePape for a few months about a decade ago making hemp bracelets when he was living in a storage shed in the Berkeley area. She said DePape sold the bracelets as a business.

“He was very odd. He didn’t make eye contact very well,” Hayes said.

She recalled him saying that “he talks to angels and there will be a hard time coming.” But she didn’t remember any seriously threatening comments, and said she didn’t think much of it because “it’s Berkeley,” a place where eccentric characters aren’t uncommon.  

The man who allegedly attacked Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s husband early Friday posted memes and conspiracy theories on Facebook about Covid-19 vaccines, the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 attack.

David DePape, 42, was identified by police Friday as the suspect in the assault on Paul Pelosi at the speaker’s San Francisco home. 

Two of DePape’s relatives told CNN that DePape is estranged from his family, and confirmed that the Facebook account – which was taken down by the social media company on Friday – belonged to him. 

His stepfather, Gene DePape, said David DePape grew up in Powell River, British Columbia, and left Canada about 20 years ago to pursue a relationship that brought him to California. 

Last year, David DePape posted links on his Facebook page to multiple videos produced by My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell falsely alleging that the 2020 election was stolen. Other posts included transphobic images and linked to websites claiming Covid-19 vaccines were deadly. “The death rates being promoted are what ever ‘THEY’ want to be promoted as the death rate,” one post read. 

DePape also posted links to YouTube videos with titles like “Democrat FARCE Commission to Investigate January 6th Capitol Riot COLLAPSES in Congress!!!” and “Global Elites Plan To Take Control Of YOUR Money! (Revealed)”  

Two days after former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of killing George Floyd, DePape wrote that the trial was “a modern lynching,” falsely indicating that Floyd died of a drug overdose. 

He also posted content about the “Great Reset” – the sprawling conspiracy theory that global elites are using coronavirus to usher in a new world order in which they gain more power and oppress the masses. And he complained that politicians making promises to try to win votes “are offering you bribes in exchange for your further enslavement.”

Most of the public posts on DePape’s Facebook page were from 2021. In earlier years, DePape also posted long screeds about religion, including claims that “Jesus is the anti christ.” None of the public posts appeared to mention Pelosi. 

Paul Pelosi was taken into surgery this morning, according two sources familiar with the situation.

His doctors have told the family that he will recover, the sources said.

San Francisco Police Chief William Scott said the motive for the attack on Paul Pelosi is still being determined.

The suspect has been identified and “will be booked at San Francisco county jail on the following charges: attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, verbal and several other additional felonies,” he said. 

Police are working with the FBI, US attorney’s office, Capitol Police and the San Francisco district attorney’s office on the investigation, he added.

Police tape is seen in front of the home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in San Francisco, California on Friday.

San Francisco police witnessed Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and an intruder struggling over a hammer before he was attacked Friday, officials said.

Responding to an emergency call at the couple’s home around 2:27 a.m. local time (5:27 a.m. ET), officers saw the attacker and Pelosi both holding the hammer when they entered the room, San Francisco Police Chief William Scott said in a news conference.

“The suspect pulled the hammer away from Mr. Pelosi and violently assaulted him with it,” Scott said. “Our officers immediately tackled the suspect, disarmed him, took him into custody, requested emergency backup and rendered medical aid.”

Both men were taken to a hospital, Scott said. He did not provide further details on their injuries.

The chief praised the officers who took down the intruder and an emergency dispatcher who sent them to the Pelosis’ home.

San Francisco Police Chief William Scott speaks at the San Francisco Police Department Headquarters on Friday.

Law enforcement officials are holding a news conference about the attack on Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The San Francisco Police Department, the US Capitol Police and the FBI are all involved in the investigation.

The man who assaulted Paul Pelosi, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, tried to tie him up “until Nancy got home,” according to two sources familiar with the situation. 

When the police arrived at the residence, the attacker said he was “waiting for Nancy.”

San Francisco Mayor London Breed says she’s in touch with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office and thanked local law enforcement for their work investigating the attack on the speaker’s husband.

“This was a horrific and scary incident. I have reached out to Speaker Pelosi to offer my support to her and her family. I want to thank the San Francisco Police Department and the San Francisco Fire Department for their quick response to this incident,” Breed said in a statement. “The Police have the suspect in custody, and as we have more information to share, we will do so.”

House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy speaks during a statue dedication ceremony at the Capitol in Washington DC, on July 27.

House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy reached out to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi after the attack on her husband and said he is praying for a full recovery, according to McCarthy’s office. 

“Leader McCarthy reached out to the speaker to check in on Paul and said he’s praying for a full recovery and is thankful they caught the assailant,” said Mark Bednar, a spokesperson for McCarthy. 

GOP Rep. Liz Cheney also tweeted: “Reports about the brutal attack on Paul Pelosi are horrific and deeply troubling. My family and I are praying for his recovery.”

Vice President Kamala Harris expressed concern about the attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband.

“Doug and I are appalled by the attack on Paul Pelosi, Speaker Pelosi’s husband,” Harris said in a tweet. “The entire Pelosi family is in our hearts and we wish him a speedy recovery.”

Harris and Pelosi each rose through the ranks of California politics before holding their positions in the federal government.

A police car blocks the street below the home of Paul Pelosi on Friday.

The person who attacked Paul Pelosi was searching for the speaker of the House, according to a source briefed on the attack.

The source told CNN the intruder confronted the speaker’s husband in their San Francisco home shouting: “Where is Nancy? Where is Nancy?”

Police have arrested a man suspected of carrying out the attack and his potential motive is under investigation, according to the speaker’s office.

Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell said in a tweet on Friday he is “horrified and disgusted” by the reports that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul Pelosi was assaulted in his home. 

“Grateful to hear that Paul is on track to make a full recovery and that law enforcement including our stellar Capitol Police are on the case,” he added in the tweet.

President Biden spoke with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Friday after a man broke into her home and attacked her husband, the White House said.

“The President is praying for Paul Pelosi and for Speaker Pelosi’s whole family. This morning he called Speaker Pelosi to express his support after this horrible attack,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

She continued: “He is also very glad that a full recovery is expected. The President continues to condemn all violence, and asks that the family’s desire for privacy be respected.”

The Pelosis have been married since 1963 and have five children.

Paul Pelosi follows his wife, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, to a weekly news conference in March.

Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was attacked by a man with a hammer at the couple’s home in San Francisco early Friday morning, law enforcement sources tell CNN.

Pelosi, 82, was hospitalized but is expected to make a full recovery, the Democratic speaker’s office said in a statement.

Police arrested a suspect and his potential motive is under investigation.

The assailant entered the Pelosi residence through the back of the house, according two sources familiar with the early details of the incident, but little more is known about how the attack played out.

With Speaker Pelosi away, there would not have been a security detail at the residence, according to one source familiar with protocol.

Special agents with the US Capitol Police’s California Field Office “quickly arrived on scene, while a team of investigators from the Department’s Threat Assessment Section was simultaneously dispatched from the East Coast to assist the FBI and the San Francisco Police with a joint investigation,” according to a statement.