Published
United StatesThe assailant of Nancy Pelosi’s husband was looking for the Democratic leader
A man broke into Nancy Pelosi’s home in San Francisco on Friday morning, but the Democratic leader was in Washington.
The motives of the suspect, who was arrested, are the subject of an investigation involving the federal police – the FBI – and the Capitol police, charged with protecting members of Congress.
Getty Images via AFP
A man assaulted the husband of Democratic Congressman Nancy Pelosi on Friday morning, police said, but the alleged attacker was actually looking for the US leader, another demonstration of the dangers facing elected officials two weeks before the US election in half term.
At around 2:30 am on Friday, the 42-year-old suspect broke into the couple’s home in San Francisco and “violently assaulted” Paul Pelosi with a hammer, this California metropolis chief of police Bill Scott said.
This man was actually looking for Nancy Pelosi and “threatened with death” her husband, spokesman for the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Drew Hammill later said. Nancy Pelosi, 82, was in Washington at the time of the attack.
“Serious injuries”
Paul Pelosi, also 80, “underwent successful surgery to treat a fractured skull and severe injuries to his right arm and hands,” added Drew Hammill. Doctors “believe he will make a full recovery,” he said.
The reasons for the 42-year-old suspect, who was still in hospital on Friday evening, remain to be clarified. One thing is certain, it was not a “random” attack but an “intentional” act, confirmed Bill Scott. “Everyone should be disgusted with what happened this morning,” the police chief said at a news conference.
The entire American political class has strongly condemned this attack. Republican Senate opposition leader Mitch McConnell said he was “horrified”, while President Joe Biden denounced the “despicable” attack. “There is no place” for political violence in America, the Democrat hammered on an election trip to Philadelphia. “When too much is too much.”
“Atrocious” violence
In recent months, many elected officials have warned against the resurgence of violence against the American political class, Republican Senator Susan Collins said she would not be “surprised” if an elected official or senator were “killed”.
“What originally were just aggressive phone calls now translate into threats and real violence,” assured the 69-year-old elected official after an individual broke a window in his Maine home. “This violence is terrifying,” denounced on Friday the elected progressive Pramila Jayapal, who had had to call the authorities herself when a man had visited her house several times in July, insulting with a weapon in her belt.
The acts of violence against American elected officials are not new. In January 2011, Democrat Gabby Giffords was nearly killed after being shot in the head during a meeting with citizens in Tucson. But according to the Capitol Police, threats against members of Congress have more than doubled since 2017, when Donald Trump was inaugurated.
Experts are particularly concerned about attacks by far-right groups. Several members of these militias are accused of heavily armed themselves to attack the Capitol in order to keep Donald Trump in power on January 6, 2021.
(AFP)
