Suspect in attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband was searching for the House speaker, sources say

WASHINGTON — The suspect who violently attacked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband early Friday was searching for her, two sources briefed on the incident told NBC News.

The sources said that before the assault occurred, the intruder confronted Paul Pelosi, 82, shouting, “Where is Nancy, where is Nancy?” One of the sources, a senior U.S. official briefed on the matter, added that the investigation is still developing.

San Francisco's chief of police, Bill Scott, said in a statement to the press Friday morning that the suspect, who was taken into custody, is 42-year-old David DePape.

Scott said that police arrived at Pelosis' home just before 2:30 a.m. PT and observed “Mr. Pelosi and the suspect both holding a hammer. The suspect pulled the hammer away from Mr. Pelosi and violently assaulted him with it."

"Our officers immediately tackled the suspect, disarmed him, took him into custody, requested emergency backup and rendered medical aid," Scott added.

According to a family member traveling to San Francisco with the speaker, the suspect brought the hammer and broke the windows of the Pelosi home facing the backyard. The family member said once inside, the suspect was trying to tie up Paul Pelosi and said they would wait "until Nancy got home." When the suspect wasn’t looking, Paul called 911. The family member said Paul was home alone and was hit in the head with the hammer multiple times. When the police arrived, the suspect said, "We are waiting for Nancy."

As of Friday afternoon, Paul Pelosi was still in surgery, the family member said. The family member said Pelosi was traveling to San Fransisco.

Police Chief Scott said it's an active investigation and said "the motive for this attack is still being determined." Paul Pelosi and DePape, were both taken to a local hospital, he said. DePape will be booked at San Francisco County Jail on the charges of attempted homicide assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, burglary and several other additional felonies, Scott added.

Pelosi's office broke the news of the attack in a statement earlier Friday.

"Early this morning, an assailant broke into the Pelosi residence in San Francisco and violently assaulted Mr. Pelosi," the California Democrat's spokesman, Drew Hammill, said. "The assailant is in custody and the motivation for the attack is under investigation."

“Mr. Pelosi was taken to the hospital, where he is receiving excellent medical care and is expected to make a full recovery,” Hammill continued.

The House speaker was not in San Francisco at the time of the attack, according to her office. U.S. Capitol Police said in a separate statement that Pelosi was in Washington, D.C., with her protective detail at the time of the break-in.

Paul Pelosi did not have a security detail. Spouses of top lawmakers are not granted one because they are not U.S. Capitol Police protectees.

Hammill said Pelosi "and her family are grateful to the first responders and medical professionals involved, and request privacy at this time." The statement didn't provide any details on how the suspect broke into their home or what injuries Pelosi's husband might have sustained.

Capitol Police said it is assisting the FBI and San Francisco police with a joint investigation into the home invasion and said the "motivation for the attack is still under investigation." The agency also said special agents in its California field office "quickly arrived on the scene while a team of investigators from the department's threat assessment section was simultaneously dispatched from the East Coast." FBI agents were at the Pelosi home Friday morning.

President Joe Biden called the speaker Friday morning to "express his support," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement. "He is also very glad that a full recovery is expected. The president continues to condemn all violence, and asks that the family’s desire for privacy be respected."

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement that he also spoke with the House speaker, saying he "conveyed my deepest concern and heartfelt wishes to her husband and their family."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a tweet, that he was "horrified and disgusted by the reports that Paul Pelosi was assaulted in his and Speaker Pelosi’s home last night."

A spokesman for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said, "Leader McCarthy reached out to the Speaker to check in on Paul and said he’s praying for a full recovery and is thankful they caught the assailant."

It's unclear what the motivation was for the break-in and assault, though national leaders have warned of the potential for political violence, especially with the midterm elections less than two weeks away.

Lawmakers reacted to the incident, including Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Ga., who represents the Atlanta area. She quickly drew a connection to former President Donald Trump and the MAGA rhetoric, although the motive has yet to be determined.

"We are living in a country where, as an elected official, we have to look out for our personal safety and our personal security. Because we had a president in office who continued to uplift this notion that an election was stolen from him and to create more stark divisions in our country," she told NBC News. "This violence and the rhetoric that we see from members of the Republican Party creates the violence that we’re seeing in our communities against our elected leaders.”

In a separate incident in August, Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., said a man called his office, repeating homophobic slurs and threatening to shoot and kill the congressman.

Swalwell, who has previously tweeted about threats to his office, wrote: "Bloodshed is coming."

The man, Joshua Hall, pleaded guilty Friday to making threats to kill a member of the United States Congress. In court testimony, Hall said he was drunk when he made the threat. He had previously pleaded guilty to fraud for impersonating relatives of Donald Trump in a scheme to steal thousands of dollars from Trump supporters.

Last month, the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol showed previously unseen video footage from the riot showing Trump supporters shouting statements demanding to know where Pelosi was.

Pelosi’s home was vandalized last January, just a few days before the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, as was the home of then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Pelosi’s garage door was defaced with phrases including “$2K,” “Cancel rent!” and “We want everything!” This came several days after Congress failed to approve a measure to increase coronavirus stimulus checks to $2,000.