Breaking: Paul Pelosi Bodycam Footage Finally Released - Watch It Here
Police bodycam footage of the struggle between Paul Pelosi and the man accused of attacking him in his San Francisco home was released Friday.
News organizations had gone to court to have the audio and video released. The prosecutors in the case and the defense lawyers for David DePape, who faces charges including assault, attempted kidnapping and attempted murder in the Oct. 28 incident, had said the footage could damage his chances of a fair trial.
The district attorney’s office argued that the footage could be manipulated and become false information that would be spread.
“You don’t eliminate the public right of access just because of concerns about conspiracy theories,” San Francisco Superior Court Judge Stephen Murphy said, according to CBS News.
Murphy also said that because the video was played at a preliminary hearing last month, there was no need to keep it a secret.
WARNING: The following video contains graphic violence and vulgar language that some viewers may find disturbing or offensive.
#EXCLUSIVE
Just released police body camera video shows moments David DePape attacked Paul Pelosi at his# San Francisco homeWARNING: VIDEO IS GRAPHIC#PaulPelosi #BREAKING@Nbcbayarea pic.twitter.com/rQZriBvOCm
— Bigad Shaban (@BigadShaban) January 27, 2023
Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California said she was unsure if she would watch the footage.
“It would be a very hard thing to see an assault on my husband’s life,” the former House speaker said. “But I don’t know.”
San Francisco Police Chief William Scott told CNN last year that when officers arrived at the Pelosi home, they knocked and “the door was opened by someone inside.” That has later been revealed to have been Pelosi.
Scott said officers saw Pelosi and another man struggle to gain control of a hammer.
As police told the two to stop their fight, Pelosi lost the battle for the hammer and was hit on the head at least once, the police chief said.
Police then tackled the man with the hammer, Scott said.
The Justice Department filed a criminal complaint on Oct. 31 alleging that DePape told police he was prepared to hold the former speaker hostage and question her and that he was prepared to break her kneecaps if she did not provide the right answers.
“DePape stated that he was going to hold Nancy hostage and talk to her. If Nancy were to tell DePape the ‘truth,’ he would let her go, and if she ‘lied,’ he was going to break ‘her kneecaps. DePape was certain that Nancy would not have told the ‘truth,’” the complaint said.
“In the course of the interview, DePape articulated he viewed Nancy as the ‘leader of the pack’ of lies told by the Democratic Party. DePape also later explained that by breaking Nancy’s kneecaps, she would then have to be wheeled into Congress, which would show other Members of Congress there were consequences to actions,” it said.
“DePape also explained generally that he wanted to use Nancy to lure another individual to DePape,” the complaint said.
According to the complaint, Paul Pelosi was able to summon police by making a 911 call when he went to use the bathroom. The complaint said DePape told police that when police arrived, Pelosi ran to the door to open it.
“Pelosi grabbed onto DePape’s hammer, which was in DePape’s hand. At this point in the interview, DePape repeated that DePape did not plan to surrender and that he would go ‘through’ Pelosi,” the filing said.
“Pelosi greeted the officers. The officers asked them what was going on. DePape responded that everything was good,” the complaint said. “Officers then asked Pelosi and DePape to drop the hammer.”
According to the complaint, DePape told police “that he pulled the hammer away from Pelosi and swung the hammer towards Pelosi. DePape explained that Pelosi’s actions resulted in Pelosi “taking the punishment instead.”
Paul Pelosi, 82, suffered a fractured skull in the attack, according to NBC News.
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