San Francisco DA Jenkins swats down misinformation about Pelosi attack
SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco district attorney Brooke Jenkins on Sunday released some new details, and more importantly corrected some bad information published by various outlets, about the attack on Paul Pelosi.
"At the time that the suspect, Mr. DePape, entered the Pelosi home ... he was in fact looking for Ms. Pelosi. The other thing is we want to make it clear that there were only two people in the home at the time that the police arrived -- Mr. Pelosi and the suspect. There was no third person present," Jenkins said.
There were media reports that a third person opened the front door to allow officers to enter the Pelosi home. Jenkins said that was not true.
"At this time, we don't have information as to which of the men, Mr. Pelosi or the suspect, opened the door at the time," Jenkins said.
San Francisco police chief Bill Scott said responding officers saw suspect David DePape hit Paul Pelosi with a hammer. They tackled and arrested DePape.
"We have nothing to suggest that these two men knew each other prior to this incident," Jenkins said.
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The attack happened early Friday morning when Pelosi was sleeping in his bedroom. Jenkins said Pelosi was home alone. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was in Washington at the time.
"It was a forced entry into the rear door of the home. [DePape] ultimately did make his way upstairs, which is where he ultimately confronted Mr. Pelosi," Jenkins said.
The Associated Press reported DePape carried zip ties with him and asked Mr. Pelosi "where is Nancy?"
Jenkins would not confirm if the intruder had zip ties.
She said she is aware of conspiracy theories circulating online, including one that was tweeted out by new Twitter owner Elon Musk, who has more than 112 million followers. Musk later deleted that tweet.
"I think there needs to be a respect for what that family has endured, what Mr. Pelosi has endured and is recovering from," Jenkins said.