Usa-Nancy Pelosi’s husband violently assaulted

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by Carlos Barria and Kristina Cooke

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 28 (Reuters) – A man broke into the California home of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday, demanding to see her before violently assaulting her husband with a hammer.

Paul Pelosi, 82, was taken to a San Francisco hospital where he was operated on to treat a fractured skull and several serious injuries to his arm and right hand, a House of Representatives spokesman said in a statement.

According to her doctors, Nancy Pelosi’s husband is expected to make a full recovery, she added.

The suspect, David Depape, a 42-year-old man, was arrested at the attack site and jailed in the San Francisco County Jail.

He is suspected of attempted murder, assault with a weapon, elder abuse and burglary, according to sheriff’s office documents available online.

Nancy Pelosi was in Washington at the time, according to Capitol police.

Authorities were still trying to establish the reasons for the attack, which officers sent to the Pelosi home witnessed before ending it, San Francisco Police Chief William Scott said.

CNN reported that Paul Pelosi called emergency services, explaining in veiled terms the situation he was in, prompting the caller to send law enforcement to his home.

Nancy Pelosi’s spokesperson said in a statement that her husband was attacked by “a man who used force and threatened his life by asking to speak to the president (of the House of Representatives).”

Few details of the suspect were known.

A person using the pseudonym “daviddepape” recently endorsed former US President Donald Trump on several websites and credited QAnon’s conspiracy theories.

In these posts, the user refers to “satanic pedophilia” and anti-Semitic stereotypes, criticizes women and transgender people, and speaks out against censorship imposed by tech companies.

Reuters was unable to confirm whether the man arrested on Friday was the author of these posts.

US President Joe Biden phoned Nancy Pelosi to express his support, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said.

Republican Minority Leader in the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarth, and Republican Minority Leader in the US Senate, Mitch McConnell, also lent their support to Nancy Pelosi. (With contributions by Brendan O’Brien, Jonathan Allen, Doina Chiacu, Rich McKay, Rami Ayyub, Tim Ahmann and Gram Slattery, written by Andy Sullivan and Steve Gorman; French version Camille Raynaud)