The Department of Justice is seeking a 40-year prison sentence against the man who broke into former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's home and assaulted her husband, Paul Pelosi, with a hammer.
In November, a jury convicted David DePape of the attempted kidnapping of a federal official and assault on an immediate family member of a federal official. Prosecutors argued that a sentence of 40 years in prison was necessary to ensure elected officials do not have to live in fear.
"Here, it is not the public that needs protecting, but the public officials. Our public officials should not live in fear of their lives, but attacks like the defendant's breed fear and dissuade people from running for office or otherwise taking roles in the public sphere," the prosecutors wrote. "At this moment in time, this defendant continues to present as a strong risk—to the Speaker Emerita and others—because of his failure to accept responsibility."
On Oct. 28, 2022, DePape broke in the San Francisco home of the Pelosis, intending to hold Nancy Pelosi hostage and "break her kneecaps" if she lied to him. He also confessed to bludgeoning Paul Pelosi with a hammer after San Francisco police showed up and his plan to kidnap the then-speaker was unraveling. The prosecutors noted that DePape displayed no remorse for his attack on Pelosi.
"The defendant seemed proud of what he had accomplished," prosecutors wrote. "Hours later, when interviewed by Sergeant Hurley, the defendant also expressed no remorse about nearly killing Mr. Pelosi, and instead explained the other targets that he had not been able to reach."
DePape did appear contrite at his November trial, saying of Paul Pelosi, "He was never my target, and I'm sorry that he got hurt. I reacted because my plan was basically ruined."
The government used the sentencing of Matthew Hale, a convicted white supremacist found guilty in 2005 of trying to assassinate a federal judge.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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