Getty Paul Pelosi and Nancy Pelosi
Paul Pelosi managed to make a secret 911 call from the bathroom after a Berkeley man broke into his house, and newly released dispatch audio captures the police response to the scene.
TMZ confirmed the dispatch audio of the police response to the Pelosi home.
Police have now released body cam video showing the Paul Pelosi attack. You can see it here.
The San Francisco Chronicle confirmed that audio is real but wrote, “The dispatcher was relaying that DePape — not Paul Pelosi — had “advised that his name is David and that he is a friend.” CNN reported that DePape was carrying zip ties and duct tape.
It’s not clear how the Chronicle came to the above conclusion, though, because they don’t provide their sourcing. The comment in the audio is: “He states there is a male in the home and that he is going to wait for his wife. He stated that he doesn’t know who the male is but that his name is David and that he is a friend. He sounded somewhat confused.” Police have not clarified it but have praised the dispatcher for elevating the incident after perceiving it was serious.
Journalist Tom Winter told NBC News that DePape was able to get into the Pelosi bedroom where Paul Pelosi was; he is talking to police. San Francisco police say DePape and Pelosi did not know each other before the attack, he tweeted.
Pelosi spoke in code during the 911 call and said: “What’s going on? Why are you here? What are you doing to me?” alerting the dispatcher that something was wrong, according to TMZ, which published the audio here.
DePape, who knocked Pelosi unconscious in the attack with a hammer DePape brought to the scene, has now been charged federally with assault and attempted kidnapping. A press release from the U.S. Department of Justice says the suspect brought with him “a roll of tape, white rope, a second hammer, a pair of rubber and cloth gloves, and zip ties from the crime scene.” Pelosi said DePape, whom he said he had never seen before, entered his bedroom looking for Nancy, the release states.
You can read the affidavit here. It says that DePape admitted he was motivated by anger toward Democrats:
DEPAPE stated that he was going to hold Nancy hostage and talk to her. If Nancy were to tell DEPAPE the ‘truth,’ he would let her go, and if she ‘lied,’ he was going to break ‘her kneecaps.’ DEPAPE was certain that Nancy would not have told the ‘truth.’ In the course of the interview, DEPAPE articulated he viewed Nancy as the ‘leader of the pack; of lies told by the Democratic Party.
DEPAPE also later explained that by breaking Nancy’s kneecaps, she would then have to be wheeled into Congress, which would show other Members of Congress there were consequences to actions. DEPAPE also explained generally that he wanted to use Nancy to lure another individual to DEPAPE.
The affidavit says: “DEPAPE explained that he did not leave after Pelosi’s call to 9-1-1 because, much like the American founding fathers with the British, he was fighting against tyranny without the option of surrender.”
Here’s what you need to know:
The Dispatcher Told an Officer That Paul Pelosi Sounded ‘Somewhat Confused’ in the Call
Audio Recordings of the Police Department Calls to the Pelosi “attack” where Paul Pelosi stated that David DePape was a “friend”.
According to Politico, Pelosi made the secret 911 call after telling suspect David Depape he needed to use the bathroom. His phone was charging in the bathroom.
That started an urgent police response to the scene after an alert dispatcher thought something might be wrong, according to the police chief, in a news conference.
“He states there is a male in the home and that he is going to wait for his wife. He stated that he doesn’t know who the male is but that his name is David and that he is a friend. He sounded somewhat confused,” the dispatcher told an officer, according to the audio.
The suspect threatened to tie Pelosi up, CNN reported.
The Suspect & Paul Pelosi Were Grappling for a Hammer When Police Arrived
GettyWhat is Paul Pelosi’s net worth for 2022?
When police arrived, they encountered a dramatic scene: Paul Pelosi grappling for a hammer with the suspect, David Depape.
Depape is the suspect accused of attacking Paul Pelosi, the husband of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, with a hammer in the couple’s home on October 28, leaving Paul with serious blunt-force trauma.
On a blog and website, he was fixated on censorship and made antisemitic comments. In one post, he ranted about government attempts to control information, calling for the arrest of journalists from prominent news organizations. He also posted COVID and election conspiracy theories online and made posts about QAnon. Online records give Depape’s age as 42.
After receiving the 911 call from Paul Pelosi and being dispatched on an “A-priority wellbeing check” in the early morning hours of October 28, 2022, San Francisco police officers encountered an “adult male and [Nancy] Pelosi’s husband, Paul” in the Pelosi home, Chief Bill Scott said in a news conference.
Chief Scott said in a later news conference that when officers arrived and knocked on the door of the Pelosi home, the door was opened “by someone inside.” Officers observed Pelosi and Depape inside the entryway of the home. The officers remained outside of the home;s threshhold. They observed both men, each “with one hand on a single hammer.” Officers gave commands to both men to drop the hammer. Depape pulled the hammer away from Pelosi and “violently attacked him with the hammer,” Scott said. Pelosi was struck at least one time. Officers entered and tackled the suspect and took him into custody. He said that Depape “forced entry” through a rear door of the Pelosi home.
“This was not a random act. This was intentional. And it’s wrong,” Scott said, noting that elected officials’ families “don’t sign up for this… Everybody should be disgusted about what happened this morning.” He praised a dispatcher as a hero for sensing more was going on than Paul Pelosi said in the 911 call; he was talking in “code,” CNN reported.
NEW stmt from @SpeakerPelosi spox: Paul Pelosi “underwent successful surgery to repair a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands. His doctors expect a full recovery.” –>
The motive is still being determined, according to police. Both men were transported to a hospital for treatment, Scott said. Depape is being booked on attempted homicide, elderly abuse, burglary and other charges, Scott said.
The statement by Drew Hammill, spokesman for Nancy Pelosi, called the attack a “violent assault.” According to the Associated Press, Pelosi, 82, “suffered blunt force trauma to his head and body,” that left him with “bruising, severe swelling and other injuries.”
Nancy Pelosi was not at the home when the attack occurred.
According to CNN, threats against lawmakers and their family are on the rise.
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