San Francisco judge orders police bodycam footage of Paul Pelosi attack to be released
- The motion was granted after news organizations filed a court motion seeking access to evidence against David DePape, the man accused in the attack
- Paul Pelosi was attacked with a hammer at his San Francisco home in October
- DePape pleaded not guilty to state charges, including attempted murder, burglary, and elder abuse, and remains in jail
A San Francisco judge has granted a motion to release dramatic police bodycam footage from the night former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul Pelosi, was attacked by an assailant with a hammer at their home.
The motion was granted on Wednesday, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, with Judge Stephen Murphy siding with a coalition of news organizations who sought access to evidence against David DePape, the man charged in the October attack.
The media argued back in December that the footage should be presented in court and accessible to the public since they had been submitted in open court and admitted into evidence.
But DePape's attorney objected to the motion, saying the release could inhibit his client's ability to get a fair trial. Depape has previously been reported as a nudist who struggled with drugs and posts crazed COVID conspiracy theories, anti-Semitic rants, racist slurs, and unhinged screeds about religion online.
He remains in jail on multiple charges, including attempted murder, following last year's attack on Paul Pelosi.
A San Francisco judge has granted a motion to release body cam footage that allegedly shows David DePape attacking former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul Pelosi
DePape has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges, including attempted murder, attempted kidnapping of a federal official and assault of an immediate family member of a federal official and remains in jail
Evidence introduced in the preliminary hearing against DePape included audio from a 911 call made by Paul Pelosi and portions of body camera video taken by the two police officers who responded to the Pelosis' house that day.
There are also portions of video of a police detective interviewing DePape and footage captured by Capitol Police Department surveillance cameras.
It's not clear on when the files will be released.
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DePape's defense attorney Adam Lipson has argued that the release of the recordings risked propagating more 'conspiracy theories' and 'false media' reporting about the high-profile case, the Chronicle reported.
The judge also heard from Thomas Burke, the attorney representing the group of news organizations.
'The precedent... that they are asking you to set here is out of a speculative fear of manipulation,' Burke told the court. 'Think about what a horrible precedent that would be.'
The coalition who filed the motion includes The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Press Democrat, CNN, Fox News, CBS, ABC, NBC, and KQED, an NPR-member radio station in San Francisco.
Judge Murphy ruled that the potential tampering with the recordings interfering with DePape's right to a fair trial was not compelling enough to withhold the recordings.
Prosecutors say DePape broke into the Pelosis' San Francisco home on October 28 seeking to kidnap the former speaker ā who was out of town ā and instead beat her 82-year-old husband with a hammer.
Paul Pelosi was knocked unconscious and woke up in a pool of his own blood. He later underwent surgery to repair a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands. He has since appeared in public wearing a hat and a glove that covered his wounds.
The 82-year-old now appears to be on the mend as last week he was pictured out for dinner with his wife at New York City restaurant Balthazar and later at the Tom Stoppard play Leopoldstadt.
Prosecutors say DePape broke into the Pelosis' San Francisco home on October 28 seeking to kidnap the former speaker ā who was out of town ā and instead beat Paul with a hammer
The 82-year-old now appears to be on the mend as last week he was pictured out for dinner with his wife at NYC restaurant Balthazar and later at the Tom Stoppard play Leopoldstadt
In a recent interview with CNN's Chris Wallace on his HBO Max show Who's Talking to Chris Wallace? the former speaker Nancy Pelosi visibly welled up with emotion as she spoke about the vicious assault on her husband.
Nancy told how her husband is 'doing ok,' in her interview with Wallace.
'It's going to take a little while for him to be back to normal,' she explained. Nancy acknowledged that Paul's recovery from head injuries is going to be a long process and requires caution.
The suspect is believed to have told Paul that he was planning to hold the former speaker hostage, 'interrogate' her and to break her kneecaps if necessary.
In December, DePape pleaded not guilty to six charges, including attempted murder, burglary, and elder abuse.
He has also pleaded not guilty to federal charges of attempting to kidnap a federal official and assaulting a federal official's family member.
He remains jailed without bail and is set to return to a state court on February 23 to set a date for his trial.
David DePape, the former nudist turned unhinged conspiracy theorist, who attacked Paul Pelosi inside his $6M San Francisco home
DePape is a former nudist from British Columbia who has struggled with drugs and posts crazed COVID conspiracy theories, anti-Semitic rants, racist slurs and unhinged screeds about religion online.
Cops say they were at the property in the exclusive Pacific Heights neighborhood when they saw the suspect grapple with Pelosi, take the hammer and then hit him with it, causing severe head, arm and hand injuries.
When they arrested Depape, they found a manifesto that contained anti-government COVID beliefs and a list of other politicians he planned to target, KTVU reported.
Pelosi was taken into surgery to repair a skull fracture after the attack but is expected to make a full recovery, while DePape is in custody and set to be charged with multiple felonies including attempted homicide.
President Joe Biden called the attack 'horrible' and Republican and Democrats condemned the violence as the House Speaker rushed from DC to San Francisco to be at her husband's side.
DePape, right, is seen at a naked wedding on the steps of City Hall in December 2013
DePape would frequently post conspiratorial blog posts on his various website
Pelosi was taken into brain surgery after the attack but is expected to make a full recovery, while DePape is set to be charged with multiple felonies including attempted homicide. He is pictured with Nancy at the Time 100 Gala in 2019
DePape grew up north of the border but moved from British Columbia to California 20 years ago. He followed a love interest, his stepfather told CNN, and family members have insisted he was a 'good kid'.
He ended up in the Berkeley area, an ultra-liberal enclave of the city, where he lived in a three-bedroom Victorian flat with famed nudist activist Gypsy Taub and a group who believed 9/11 was an 'inside job'.
A November 2008 article in the Oakland Tribune reported that he had 'three small children' with Russian-born Taub. She was quoted in the article on community meals saying: 'In Russia, where I am from, people share more, and I want my kids to grow up knowing sharing.'
Taub and her fiance Jaymz Smith tapped DePape to be their best man at their nudist wedding in 2013, but he stayed dressed and took photos during the ceremony that attracted a huge police presence.
An acquaintance of his told CNN that DePape was struggling with hard drugs about eight years ago but was 'trying to create a new life for himself.' She said she cut off contact with DePape after receiving 'disturbing' emails in which he sounded 'dangerous' and 'out of touch with reality.'
His social media showed he posted conspiracy theories about the origins of the covid epidemic, about the validity of the 2020 election, and on the January 6th insurrection on Capitol Hill.
He first began posting on a blog titled 'God Is Loving' in June 2007 with rambling screeds about religion. He stopped posting for 15 years ā then suddenly started again on August 24 this year with racist, sexist, anti-Semitic and crazed entries about the Q-Anon conspiracy theory.
DePape is pictured with the bride, Gypsy Taub, at her wedding to Jaymz Smith in December 2013
Aerial footage showed broken panes and shattered glass at the backdoor of Pelosi's home
The Pelosis own a four-bedroom San Francisco home that sits in the middle of her congressional district and was purchased in 2007 for $2.2 million but is thought to be worth at least $6 million now
He posted obscene versions of Disney songs from YouTube including one titled: 'Do you want to **** a snowman?' He posted a screed containing the n-word, and a post titled 'This is what a dumb b***h looks like'. Others were titled: 'Noah survived the collapse of Atlantis', 'Pedophile normalization', 'Facts are Racist', 'Communist Voodoo science', 'I'm not sexist' and 'Feminist gets owned'.
On a separate blog he set up called Frenly Frens, he wrote unhinged entries on how 'Jews hate whites', and several posts about Donald Trump, including one that said: 'Trump you NEEEEEEEED to make Tulsi your VP in 2024.'
He defended former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin, who was found guilty of killing George Floyd.
DePape called Chauvin's trial 'a modern lynching' and falsely indicated that Floyd died of a drug overdose.
He also posted long screeds about religion, including claims that 'Jesus is the anti christ.' When DePaper broke into the Pelosis' home, he was shouting 'Where is Nancy? Where's Nancy?'
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