The man accused of attacking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband during an early-morning break-in late last week made his first appearance in court Tuesday, remaining largely silent while facing a slew of felony charges.
David DePape, 42, showed little emotion while entering a San Francisco County Superior Court courtroom Tuesday to be arraigned in on felony charges of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, residential burglary, false imprisonment and threatening the life or serious bodily harm to a public official.
Wearing a bright orange sweater and orange pants, with right arm in a black sling, DePape hardly spoke during Friday's hearing. He said "yes" when asked if he'd like to waive his right to a preliminary hearing within 10 days.
He will be held without bail in a county jail until at least Friday, when he's set to appear in court once more for a bail hearing and to set date for his preliminary hearing.
After the hearing, DePape's public defender said that "political misinformation and propaganda" could take center stage in the case.
There has "been a lot of speculation regarding Mr. DePape's vulnerability to misinformation," said Adam Lipson, deputy public defender. "And that's certainly something we're going to look into, that we're going to delve into as his defense team. But again, it would be premature to delve into that at this time."
Prosecutors did not speak to press after the hearing.
Tuesday's hearing served as a curtain-raiser for what could be a lengthy and wide-reaching prosecution. Along with the local charges that he faced Tuesday, DePape also is being prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice in the attack at the Pelosi's San Francisco home.
He faces one federal count of assault on an immediate family member of a U.S. official with the intent to retaliate against the official because of the performance of official duties. That charge carries a maximum 30-year prison sentence, and the attempted kidnapping charge carries a maximum 20-year sentence.
Authorities suspect DePape planned to kidnap the House Speaker and "break her kneecaps" as part of a brazen attempt to expose Pelosi as the "leader of the pack" of lies told by the Democratic Party.
Armed with zip ties, rope, tape and two hammers, DePape broke through a window in the couple's Pacific Heights neighborhood house and snuck upstairs into a bedroom where Paul Pelosi was sleeping, according to a federal criminal complaint released Monday. It was then that DePape demanded to see "Nancy," so that he could take her hostage and expose the "truth," the criminal affidavit said.
Breaking her kneecap was a precursor to forcing Pelosi to be "wheeled into Congress, which would show other members of Congress there were consequences to actions," the affidavit said.
At some point, Paul Pelosi went into a bathroom and phoned 911. When officers arrived about two minutes later, they found Pelosi and DePape struggling over a hammer. Ordered to drop it, Paul Pelosi let go of the hammer, while DePape swung it and hit Pelosi in the head, appearing to knock him unconscious, court records said.
The federal criminal complaint directly contradicted myriad conspiracy theories circulating online and pushed by right-wing websites that cast doubt on authorities official narrative of what happened early Friday morning. Twitter's new owner, Elon Musk, at one point tweeted a link to one such article over the weekend, then later deleted his tweet.
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