Man to appear in court charged with attempted murder of Nancy Pelosi husband

A man accused of attacking the husband of senior US politician Nancy Pelosi with a hammer is due to appear in court in San Francisco on Tuesday.

The charges against the suspect, named as David DePape, include attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon.

The 42-year-old is accused of breaking into the couple’s home early on Friday.

Mrs Pelosi, who is second in line to the presidency, was on the other side of the country at the time.

Paul Pelosi, 82, is recovering from successful surgery on a skull fracture and arm injuries.

The charges Mr DePape will face on Tuesday are being brought by the state of California, but he also faces federal charges of assault and attempting to kidnap Mrs Pelosi. No court date has yet been set for these charges.

According to court documents, he had planned to hold Mrs Pelosi hostage and was going to break “her kneecaps” if she “lied” to him.

It is not clear whether he will attend court in person or by video link. Prosecutors are expected to ask that he will be denied bail.

As well as the attempted murder and assault charges, the suspect is also charged by the state with:

The accused faces 13 years to life in prison on the state charges and maximum of 50 years on the federal charges.

The motive is being investigated but police say it was “not a random act”.

The justice department said the suspect had a roll of tape, white rope, a second hammer and zip ties in his possession when he was arrested.

He had been searching for the top Democrat and reportedly shouted “where is Nancy?” while inside the property.

He also told police that if Mrs Pelosi was injured, then she would have had to use a wheelchair to enter Congress, which would send a message to other politicians.

Mrs Pelosi, 82, was in Washington DC but flew back to see her husband in hospital, where he underwent successful surgery for a skull fracture and injuries to his hands and right arm. The venture capitalist has been married to Mrs Pelosi since 1963.

As well as Mrs Pelosi – who as speaker of the House of Representatives is one of the most senior politicians in the country – the suspect had a list of other people he wanted to target and may have been planning further attacks, law enforcement sources told the BBC’s US partner CBS News.

Officers were called to the couple’s home at 02:23 local time (09:23 GMT) on Friday. Images of the four-bedroom property in the Pacific Heights neighbourhood showed the rear glass doors – where police say the intruder gained entry – had been shattered.

Mr Pelosi later told police that he was asleep when the suspect, who he had never seen before, entered his bedroom. He told the intruder that he needed to use the bathroom then made a 911 call on his mobile phone.

Police later found Mr Pelosi and the suspect struggling over a hammer, but it was wrested from him by the intruder who violently assaulted him with it. The suspect was then tackled and disarmed by officers, while Mr Pelosi appeared to be unconscious on the ground.

The attack has raised fears of political violence less than two weeks before the midterm election on 8 November that will determine control of Congress.

Hours after the attack, the US government distributed a bulletin to law enforcement across the nation warning of a “heightened threat” of domestic violent extremism against candidates and election workers driven by individuals with “ideological grievances”.

A blog, website and social media accounts under the name of the suspect seen by the BBC contained anti-Semitic memes, Holocaust denial, references to far-right websites and conspiracy theories such as QAnon.

He also posted debunked allegations of election fraud as well as a host of far-right and extremist talking points.

False claims about the attack itself have also spread widely online.