Police bodycam footage from Paul Pelosi’s attack has been made publicly available after a California District Attorney ordered the video, as well as the audio from the 911 call and home surveillance footage to be released. The footage was released on Friday, January 27. The graphic video, which has been shared on Twitter, of the attack showed the suspect grabbing Paul’s wrist, before taking a swing at him, as police charged at him.
WARNING: This video contains graphic content.
WARNING: GRAPHIC VIDEO
SFPD Body camera footage released today showing the attack on Paul Pelosi. pic.twitter.com/7tFomSmkCj
— Michael Bott (@TweetBottNBC) January 27, 2023
As police entered the door, the attacker could be seen holding Paul’s arm, as one of the officers asks him what’s going on. An officer asked him to “Drop the hammer,” but he refused. Paul appeared to try to get a hold of the hammer, before the home invader took a swing at him, and as he did, police ran inside the house to stop him. One cop tackled the suspect and held him on the ground, and they tried to get handcuffs on him. While they worked to get the cuffs on him, one of the officers shouted, “Give me your f****** hand.” Police also called for medics and backup. The video ended with Paul seen laying on the ground with an arm under one of the suspect’s legs.
In addition to the bodycam footage, the audio of police interviews with the suspect David DePape was also announced to be released, via CNN. DePape has pleaded not guilty to the multiple charges, which include assault and attempted murder. If convicted, he can face up to 50 years in prison for the charges.
In the aftermath of the home invasion, it was revealed that the attacker was trying to find Paul’s wife, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Court documents have revealed that the suspect wanted to “break [the House Speaker’s] kneecaps” when he attacked Paul with a hammer, per The Daily Mail. The suspect reportedly wanted to “show other Members of Congress there were consequences to actions.” It was reported that during the attack, he was shouting, “Where’s Nancy?” After police stopped the attack, both Paul and the attacker were transported to a hospital. The House Speaker’s husband was treated for a fractured skull and released six days later.
Since Paul’s attack, Nancy and other members of the Pelosi family have spoken out about how the family has been recovering since the invasion. In her first statement after the attack, the House Speaker said that the family was shook. “Our children, our grandchildren and I are heartbroken and traumatized by the life-threatening attack on our Pop,” she said in part.
Nancy said that he still wasn’t “himself” three days after the attack in an interview on Who’s Talking To Chris Wallace, earlier in January. “Anyone who’s had a head injury knows that you have to be very careful. You have to be careful about movement. You have to be careful about light. You have to be careful about sound. It just takes a while. Probably another three or four months, according to the doctors, for him to be really himself,” she said.
Since the attack, Paul has made a few public appearances, with the first being at the 2022 Kennedy Center Honors about a month after the attack. The Pelosis’ daughter Alexandra also spoke about how the family have still been struggling since the attack. “What happened to my father was tragic, and just terrible, and for us traumatizing still to this day—many people in my family can’t sleep through the night still,” she said during an appearance on The View in December.