Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the US House of Representatives, and her husband Paul Pelosi were attacked by an intruder with a hammer at their San Francisco home. Paul Pelosi underwent surgery and is now recovering, according to the BBC.
Despite having a fractured head, a broken right arm, and damage to his hands, Mr. Pelosi, 82, is anticipated to make a full recovery.
The attack has heightened concerns about political violence ahead of the midterm elections on November 8.
According to reports, the suspect, 42-year-old David Depape, wanted to see Nancy Pelosi.
President Biden criticised a toxic political environment for fostering violence and called the incident “despicable.”
Paul Pelosi’s attack was called “despicable” by President Biden.
During a rally in Philadelphia, he declared, “Enough is enough is enough.” “Regardless of your politics, every person of good conscience needs to plainly and unequivocally oppose the violence in our politics.”
A few hours after the assault, the US government issued a statement to law enforcement agencies all throughout the country alerting them to a “heightened threat” of domestic violent extremism directed at candidates and election officials and motivated by those with “ideological grievances.”
Police said a motive had not yet been fully established as they continued to investigate the attack on Mr. Pelosi, which they had classified as an attempted murder.
“Paul Pelosi called 911 in a covert manner”
Mrs. Pelosi, who was in Washington DC on the opposite side of the country when the attack happened, took a flight to visit her husband in the hospital.
An attack on Mr. Pelosi occurred early on Friday morning, according to a spokeswoman for the senior Democrat, “by an assailant who acted with force, threatened his life while demanding to see the Speaker.”
Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco residence following an attack, as seen from above
Police in San Francisco responded to a report, according to Chief William Scott, at about 02:27 local time (09:27 GMT) on Friday.
They discovered Mr. Pelosi and the suspect fighting over a hammer, but the intruder had taken it from Mr. Pelosi and was savagely beating him with it.
Police officers tackled the suspect and took his weapon away. According to law enforcement officials, he tried to restrain Mr. Pelosi “until Nancy returned home,” according to CBS News. Where’s Nancy? he reportedly said during the incident.
According to Chief Scott, he is also accused of burglary, assault with a deadly weapon, and several other offences.
He claimed that the suspect had entered the four-bedroom Pelosi home in the affluent Pacific Heights neighbourhood through a rear entry. The property’s glass door is broken in the video.
Police declined to provide information about the suspect’s condition while he was hospitalised.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Mr. Pelosi pretended to need to use the restroom before making a covert 911 call on his mobile phone and leaving the line open so a dispatcher could overhear him speaking to the suspect.
According to Chief Scott, Mr. Pelosi had contacted the police, and a perceptive emergency dispatcher had “read between the lines” to send officers.
The police chief characterised the attack as “not random.” “This was planned.”
“Everyone should be disgusted by what happened this morning,” he continued.
Right-side web activity
The BBC has found evidence of a suspect’s blog, website, and social media profiles that are full of anti-Semitic memes, Holocaust denial, allusions to far-right websites, and mentions of conspiracy theories like QAnon.
Additionally, he published disproved election fraud claims. His most recent posts were disorganised, covering a variety of far-right and extremist talking points.
Older texts from the suspect advertise quartz crystals and hemp jewellery. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, he was also an activist for nudism and cited the Green Party as his political affiliation.
According to his stepfather, who spoke to the Globe and Mail newspaper, the suspect was raised in the western Canadian province of British Columbia before relocating to the US and growing distant from his relatives there.
One of the most influential politicians in the nation is Mrs. Pelosi. After Vice President Kamala Harris, she was re-elected to a fourth term as Speaker of the House of Representatives in 2021, placing her second in line for the president.
The native of Baltimore has served as the congressional representative for the San Francisco region since 1987, and she normally alternates her time between California and Washington, DC.
In preparation for the midterm elections, she is presently fundraising and canvassing for Democrats across the nation.
Her husband was born and reared in San Francisco and is the multimillionaire founder of a venture capital firm.
Five children have been born to the couple since their marriage began in 1963.
Since the riot at the US Capitol in January 2021, members of Congress have been on high alert regarding security risks. During the incident, supporters of the then-President Donald Trump ransacked Mrs. Pelosi’s office in the building.
