A few days after an attacker broke into the home of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and seriously injured her husband Paul, a court document on the case was released on Monday (local time). In the affidavit, FBI special investigator Stephanie Minor describes in detail how the crime happened on Friday night in San Francisco. Her accounts are based on testimonies from victim Paul Pelosi, police officers at the scene, and alleged perpetrator David D.
Accordingly, D. went to the back of the three-story house, dressed all in black, broke the glass pane of a back door with a hammer and entered the building. The 42-year-old had cable ties, a roll of adhesive tape, a rope and gloves in a backpack. D. went up the stairs to Pelosi’s bedroom with the hammer and woke Paul Pelosi who was sleeping there and said he wanted to speak to “Nancy”.
Paul Pelosi, who said he had never seen the man before, replied that his wife was not home, and the intruder said he would sit and wait for her. Even when Pelosi told the man that his wife wouldn’t be home for a few days, he insisted on waiting and announced that he would tie up the 82-year-old so he could get some sleep while he waited because he was tired from wearing the backpack to the house of Pelosis.
Pelosi tried to go to another part of the house from the bedroom, but D. stopped him and brought him back. While the two were talking, the husband of the US top politician then went into a bathroom, from where he managed to dial the emergency number. At 2:23 a.m. he was able to report to the dispatcher that a man he did not know was waiting for his wife in his house. Although the attacker heard the phone call and knew the police were coming, he stayed put because “similar to how the American Founding Fathers fought the British, he fought tyranny without having the opportunity to surrender,” reports Minor in her explanation of the statements made by the 42-year-old during his interrogation.
Eight minutes after the 911 call, two officers from the San Francisco Police Department arrived at the Pelosi’s home and knocked on the front door, according to the court document. By this time, Pelosi and the intruder had already gone down the stairs to the entryway. Pelosi “ran over and opened” the door, and the two men began wrestling for the gavel. The officers asked the two to drop the tool, but D. snatched the hammer from Pelosi and hit him in the head with it. While Pelosi collapsed, officers rushed in and held the attacker down.
According to the affidavit, David D. later stated during interrogation that he had held Nancy Pelosi hostage and wanted to talk to her. If she had told the “truth”, he would have released her; if she had “lied” – which he assumed she had – he would have broken her kneecaps. He imagined that she would then have to be wheeled into Congress in a wheelchair – and other members would learn that actions have consequences. According to the attacker, the 82-year-old is the “leader of the pack” of liars in the Democratic Party.
Nancy Pelosi is a constant target of verbal attacks from the political right. Former US President Donald Trump keeps calling her “Crazy Nancy” and has made her a hate figure for his supporters over the years. Pelosi is number three in the US political hierarchy after President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. The Democrat is guarded by bodyguards around the clock – so far no protection has been provided for families of members of Congress.
David D. is now facing federal charges of attempted kidnapping of a public official and assaulting a family member of a public official. Local charges against him include attempted murder, burglary, ill-treatment and deprivation of liberty of an elderly person and threatening an official. The 42-year-old faces several decades in prison.
Paul Pelosi required surgery after the attack for a fractured skull and serious injuries to his right arm and hands. However, doctors expect that he will make a full recovery.
Sources: Stephanie Minor Affidavit, San Francisco Chronicle, DPA
