Pelosi family set to view police body camera video of assault on Paul Pelosi
SAN FRANCISCO -- Police body camera footage of the assault on Paul Pelosi last week is being made available for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her family to view, according to San Francisco's district attorney.
District Attorney Brooke Jenkins confirmed during an interview with CNN Wednesday that some members of the Pelosi family were set to view the body cam footage from the police arrival at their home that night.
That includes footage of the actual hammer strike by suspect David Wayne DePape that sent Paul Pelosi to the hospital to have surgery on his fractured skull and injured hand and arm. He is still recovering at San Francisco General as of Wednesday evening.
However, Jenkins said it may be some time before the public gets a look at that video. The DA said her job is to protect the state of the investigation.
"Revealing that evidence through the media is just not what we think is appropriate. We want to make sure that this individual is held accountable for these egregious acts," said Jenkins. "And so for us, we are going to make sure that we limit the evidence as much as possible."
Court documents revealed new details about what happened that night. The motion to detain document says DePape broke in and stood over Paul Pelosi's bedside with a hammer. He woke him up, asking, "Are you Paul Pelosi?" and "Where's Nancy?"
He added, "She's number two from the presidency, right?" before saying "We've got to take them all out." When DePape learned that the Speaker was not scheduled to return for several days, he told Pelosi, "Okay. Well, I'm going to tie you up." He would go on to threaten to tie Pelosi up ten times during the incident.
Eventually, DePape allowed Pelosi to use the bathroom, which is where he called 9-1-1. The police dispatcher was able to discern during the call that someone's life was being seriously threatened and immediately sent officers for a welfare check. Then the two men walked downstairs.
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The documents say when DePape realized police were on their way, he told Paul Pelosi, "I can take you out." That was when the struggle for the hammer began.
Police arrived at that moment and instructed the men to drop the hammer. Paul Pelosi released his grip, but DePape did not and struck Pelosi, who was knocked unconscious. Officers were able to tackle DePape and disarm him, but he'd already seriously injured Paul Pelosi.
Documents said Pelosi was unresponsive for about three minutes, waking up in a pool of his own blood.
"What was going on in his mind as to why he did that, I can't speak to that. But what is very clear to me from viewing that body worn camera is he tried to kill Mr. Pelosi," San Francisco police chief Bill Scott said.
According to the court documents the defendant told officers and medics at the scene, "I'm sick of the insane f--king level of lies coming out of Washington, D.C. I came here to have a little chat with his wife."
DePape added, "I didn't really want to hurt him, but you know this was a suicide mission. I'm not going to stand here and do nothing even if it cost me my life. Hurting him was not my goal. I told him before I attacked him, that he's escalating things, and I will go through him if have to."
When asked if he had any additional plans, DePape named several targets, including a local professor, several prominent state and federal politicians as well as relatives of those state and federal politicians.
"This is a person who was willing to go to extreme lengths to plan out this attack, to figure out how to get in their house, and then to enact violence, even in the presence of the police," said Jenkins. "We know he present a level of danger that's really as high as it gets."
Jenkins also said DePape has been "cooperative" with police and "submitted to a lengthy interview" before getting a lawyer.
Meanwhile, security concerns are being raised at federal and local levels as Election Day approaches with authorities weighing plans to keep politicians and voters safe.
With threats against members of Congress on the increase, Capitol police say they're monitoring thousands of cases nationwide, and in some cases, coordinating with state and local agencies as needed.
The heightened security comes in the wake of the attack at the Pelosi home early Friday morning.
CBS News confirmed that while the cameras recorded the break-in, Capitol police only learned of it after an officer in the department's command center saw a police cruiser in the Pelosi driveway and alerted his superiors. In addition, no security alarm in the house went off when DePape allegedly broke a glass door to enter the home, CBS News confirmed.
The news about the cameras was first reported by The Washington Post. While the House Speaker has round-the-clock security, at the time of the break-in there was no security personnel at the home because the speaker was in Washington, D.C.
On Wednesday, U.S. Capitol Police Department released a statement saying the Capitol Police Command Center "has access to roughly 1,800 cameras" and that there are exterior cameras at the Pelosi home "used to actively monitor the Speaker's San Francisco residence around the clock when she is there."
The statement said the department "has begun an internal security review and will be gathering input and questions from our Congressional stakeholders."
"Our brave men and women are working around the clock to meet this urgent mission during this divisive time. In the meantime, a significant change that will have an immediate impact will be for people across our country to lower the temperature on political rhetoric before it's too late," the statement concluded.
Capitol police chief Tom Manger also called for more security resources to protect lawmakers given the current political climate in the U.S.
"A lot of the demonizing rhetoric, false claims of election fraud paired with calls for action against other parties and individuals are what can combine to cause real problems," said Shannon Hiller, the head of the Bridging Divides Initiative at Princeton University.
She said despite concerning rhetoric, people should feel safe going to vote.
"It's a period of heightened tension. But there's so many groups -- whether it's poll workers, administrators, community groups -- who have been able to prepare a long time for this day," said Hiller.
A federal intelligence bulletin warned that domestic violent extremists across the ideological spectrum pose a heightened threat to the midterms and beyond Election Day, though there are no specific threats currently.
The attack on Paul Pelosi has some local officials increasing their own security. San Francisco Mayor London Breed says she has already made some changes.
"I've had a number of death threats. I have had someone show up with protesters with a pitchfork in front of my home, and others who have been very aggressive," Breed told KPIX. "So, yeah, I'm definitely concerned."
DePape is being held without bail. He is also barred from contacting the Pelosis or coming within 150 yards of their home.
He is due back in court Friday, when the judge is expected to set a date for his preliminary hearing.