Dramatic footage released by US court

The split-second impact of the hammer on Pelosi’s skull is not caught on camera. However, the 82-year-old can be seen motionless on his side as DePape is overpowered by officers. Paul Pelosi spent six days in hospital as a result and his attacker now faces a range of charges including attempted murder.

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Nancy Pelosi, a long-time target of right-wing attacks, was in Washington on the night of the incident, which took place 11 days before the midterm elections.

At the time, she was third in the line of succession to the president, reigniting concerns about political violence in America and the safety of elected officials.

After the footage was released, she said she had no intention of viewing or listening to the footage, which included DePape’s confession tape and surveillance video of DePape showing him breaking into the couple’s home after he was on their walked around the terrace.

“I haven’t heard from the 911 call yet. I didn’t hear the confession. I did not see the burglary and I have absolutely no intention of seeing the fatal assault on my husband’s life,” she told reporters on Capitol Hill.

“I will not be making any further statements on this case going forward, other than to thank people again and update them on Paul’s progress.”

When asked how her husband was, she replied, “He’s coming with me.”

DePape banged a hammer through a rear glass entrance to the Pelosi home and found Paul Pelosi asleep in his bedroom. The tone of the 911 call that Pelosi was able to make was also released, in which he alerted the dispatcher, “There’s a gentleman here waiting for my wife to come back, Nancy Pelosi.”

DePape later told detectives his goal was to capture and interrogate the then-spokeswoman, and that he planned to break her kneecaps if she “lied” to him. In a court filing, prosecutors also allege that he was carrying plastic zip ties that night and had asked, “Where’s Nancy?”

It was also revealed that DePape, 42, had made racist and often rambling posts online, including some questioning the results of the 2020 election, defending former President Donald Trump and repeating QAnon conspiracy theories.

Nonetheless, following the attack, various right-wing figures began to put forward unsubstantiated theories as to what had happened, some even going so far as to claim without evidence that the subject had a relationship with Pelosi’s husband.

And on the eve of Midterms, Trump took advantage of a rally in Ohio to call Pelosi a “beast” for voting to impeach him and boasted, “We’re going to end mad Nancy Pelosi’s political career once and for all!”

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The footage was released two days after San Francisco Superior Court Justice Stephen Murphy ordered its release following a media petition.

Portions of footage of the Oct. 28 burglary and attack were shown in court last month but have not yet been released publicly. DePape has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.

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