House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said her family is “heartbroken and traumatized” after a brutal hammer assault on her husband that has shocked the country.
An intruder smashed his way through a rear door into the Pelosi’s house in San Francisco on Friday. The man confronted Paul Pelosi and asked where his wife was, shouting, “Where is Nancy?”
In a letter Saturday to all members of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi said: “Yesterday morning, a violent man broke into our family home, demanded to confront me and brutally attacked my husband Paul.”
She said “Our children, our grandchildren and I are heartbroken and traumatized by the life-threatening attack on our Pop.”
Nancy added that the family was “grateful for the quick response of law enforcement and emergency services, and for the life-saving medical care he is receiving.”
Please know that the prayers and warm wishes from so many are a comfort to our family and are helping Paul make progress with his recovery.
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) October 30, 2022
We are grateful for the quick response of law enforcement and emergency services, and for the life-saving medical care he is receiving.
Pelosi’s husband underwent successful surgery
Paul Pelosi, 82, has since gone through a successful surgery to repair a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands, Pelosi’s spokesman said on Friday.
Nancy Pelosi that her husband continues to improve following the attack. The assault comes less than two weeks before the November 8 midterm elections.
Suspect arrested
The 42-year-old man, who clubbed U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband in the head with a hammer, faced charges of attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, burglary and other felonies, said San Francisco Police Chief William Scott.
Police said the suspect, identified as Canadian-born David DePape, confronted Paul Pelosi in the family’s Pacific Heights home early Friday. Police have not yet identified a motive for the attack on Pelosi’s husband.
Reaction
President Biden denounced the violence and called for the couple’s privacy to be respected. “This is despicable. There’s no place in America. There’s too much violence, political violence, too much hatred, too much vitriol,” Biden said at the beginning of remarks to Pennsylvania Democrats.“Enough is enough. Every person of good conscience needs to clearly and unambiguously stand up against violence in our politics, no matter what your politics are.”
Politicians from both parties expressed outrage about the assault.
The US Senate’s Democratic majority leader, Chuck Schumer, called the attack against Pelosi and her husband “a dastardly act”. Schumer said on Twitter: “I spoke with Speaker Pelosi earlier this morning and conveyed my deepest concern and heartfelt wishes to her husband and their family, and I wish him a speedy recovery,”
“This attack is shocking, and Americans should worry because it is becoming more common,” said Joe O’Dea, a Republican candidate for Senate in Colorado. “Partisanship and polarization are tearing the country apart.”
The Republican Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, wished Pelosi a full recovery and shared his shock at the attack on Twitter: “Horrified and disgusted by the reports that Paul Pelosi was assaulted in his and speaker Pelosi’s home last night. Grateful to hear that Paul is on track to make a full recovery and that law enforcement including our stellar Capitol police are on the case.”
House Minority Whip Steve Scalise condemned the attack and shared gratitude for investigators’ involvement. Scalise said “Let’s be clear: Violence has no place in this country. I’m praying for Paul Pelosi’s full recovery.”
The attack on Paul Pelosi is the latest incident of political violence on the rise in the United States in recent years. Hundreds of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6 to try to stop the certification of Biden’s victory after then-President Trump and his allies had claimed for weeks that the 2020 election was rigged.
