Footage of the attack on the former Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy PelosiThe man’s husband has been released to the public after a judge on Wednesday denied prosecutors’ request to keep it a secret. The body camera footage shows suspect David DePape holding a hammer over Paul Pelosi at the 82-year-old’s front door.
A police officer is heard saying, “How are you? What’s up man?”
DePape appears to reply, “everything is fine,” as he tries to take Pelosi’s hand off the hammer by grabbing his right arm.
The officer shines a light into the property as he asks the intruder to “drop the hammer”, leading to a struggle between DePape and Pelosi that resulted in former chairman Nancy Pelosi’s husband being punched.
DePape can be seen raising the hammer as Pelosi stumbles backward to escape him, but the suspect manages to regain full control.
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As the attack unravels, the cop filming the incident pushes a colleague into the house as the duo scramble to separate DePape and Pelosi.
The fellow cop stops the suspect by firing himself at him while Pelosi lies motionless on the ground.
San Francisco Supreme Court Justice Stephen M. Murphy ruled there was no reason to keep the footage a secret, especially after prosecutors played it in open court during a preliminary hearing last month.
The San Francisco State Department handed over evidence to Murphy after a court hearing on Wednesday.
Murphy asked the clerk to distribute it to the media, which was released Friday afternoon.
DePape last month pleaded not guilty to six charges, including attempted murder. Police have said DePape told them there was “evil in Washington” and that he wanted to harm Nancy Pelosi because she was second in line to the presidency. His case is pending.
Reacting to the November attack, the former speaker said the incident was particularly “hard” on her because her husband’s attacker had said she was the main target of his anger.
She told CNN: “For me, this is really the hardest part because Paul wasn’t the target and he’s the one paying the price.
“He wasn’t looking for Paul, he was looking for me.”
The Democrats lost their majority in the House of Representatives after the midterm elections.
The GOP selected California Republican U.S. Representative Kevin McCarthy as its new speaker. Pelosi remains in Congress, but she resigned as Democratic leader. She was replaced by New York’s Hakeem Jeffries.