After the attack on the husband of US top politician Nancy Pelosi, the alleged perpetrator appeared in court for the first time on Tuesday. His attorney pleaded not guilty during the brief hearing before the San Francisco court, US media consistently reported from the courtroom.
The 42-year-old is accused of, among other things, attempted murder, burglary, abuse and deprivation of liberty of an elderly person and threatening an official. The court decided to initially detain the man with no possibility of bail.
A few days before the US general election, Paul Pelosi was attacked and seriously injured in the couple’s home in San Francisco. In the middle of the aggressively conducted election campaign, the perpetrator broke in there at night, demanded Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Speaker of the House of Representatives, and brutally attacked her 82-year-old husband. As it became known on Monday, the perpetrator had planned to take Nancy Pelosi hostage and break her kneecaps.
In a separate federal proceeding, the attacker is charged with attempting to kidnap a public official and assaulting a family member of a public official. He could face decades in prison if convicted, according to the US Department of Justice.
