Intruder wanted to break speaker Nancy Pelosi’s kneecaps, federal complaint says | World News,The Indian Express

The assailant’s mission, he would later tell police, was to take hostage and perhaps break the kneecaps of Nancy Pelosi, whom he saw as “the ‘leader of the pack’ of lies told by the Democratic Party.”
The man, lugging a backpack stuffed with rope, zip ties and a hammer, entered the mansion in San Francisco’s exclusive Pacific Heights neighbourhood through a back door, leaving shards of glass on the ground.
The intruder woke up the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and later attacked him, fracturing his skull. The assailant’s mission, he would later tell police, was to take hostage and perhaps break the kneecaps of Nancy Pelosi, whom he saw as “the ‘leader of the pack’ of lies told by the Democratic Party.”
All of it was detailed Monday in a federal complaint against David DePape, 42, who was charged with attempting to kidnap Nancy Pelosi and assaulting a relative of a federal official. San Francisco’s prosecutor later filed six additional state charges against DePape.
The attack on Friday morning came amid an increase in politically motivated violence just before next week’s midterm elections. And the Justice Department’s swift action in bringing criminal charges Monday against the suspect reflected the sense of urgency at the highest levels of the US government to confront an issue that officials view as a stark threat to the nation. There has been a surge in threats and attacks against figures of both political parties in recent years, and Pelosi, in particular, has long been the subject of vilification and threats.
DePape was apprehended by the police at the Pelosi home in the early morning hours Friday. Police said he forcibly entered through the back door of the house, encountered Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, 82, and, following a struggle over a hammer, struck him with it. Nancy Pelosi was in Washington during the attack.
Rating: 5