Intruder asks ‘Where is Nancy?’ before beating Pelosi’s husband with hammer, police say

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• Judy Woodruff:

  U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul, was severely beaten with a hammer this morning when an attacker broke into their San Francisco home. The speaker was not there at the time.

  Authorities said the suspect, identified as 42-year-old David DePape, specifically targeted the residents. He shouted "Where is Nancy?" before assaulting her husband.

  San Francisco Police Chief William Scott said officers checking on the home witnessed the attack.

• William Scott, San Francisco Police Chief:

  Our officers 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.

• Judy Woodruff:

  Paul Pelosi suffered blunt force injuries to his head and body. He is in the hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.

  The attack comes as threats to American lawmakers are at an all-time high two years after the January 6 attack on the Capitol.

  Lisa Desjardins has been following all this, and she joins me now.

  So, Lisa, hello. What more do we know about what happened?

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Well, we did get a statement just a few minutes ago from Speaker Pelosi's office.

  They did say that Paul Pelosi did make it through surgery for this, a skull fracture, as well as for damage to the right arm and to his hand, surgery for those things. They say that he was — successfully got out of surgery and is expected to fully recover. So that is good news.

  We know that he was assaulted with a hammer. We don't know if there were other weapons involved or other aspects of the assault that happened before the police arrived. Hopefully, we will get those details soon.

  The suspect, as you said, is a 42-year-old, someone believed to have resided in Berkeley, California, nearby. Now, we asked Mary McCord — of course, we know that she's someone who's been in national security, Department of Justice, an expert on these things — about some things that she's been hearing and that researchers have found about an online presence for someone with his same name.

  Here's what she told us.

• Mary McCord, Former Justice Department Official:

  It's not confirmed that this is the same person, but a person with the same name as the attacker is connected to a couple of different online platforms, one being a Blogspot that seems to be espousing free speech and decrying censorship by the government.

  And the other is a Web site that engages in antisemitism, anti-LGBTQ — anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, QAnon conspiracy theories, and hate speech targeting women and immigrants.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  And we have confirmed, I was told by a source he was brave, that, in fact, the suspect did ask, "Where's Nancy?" that he went there looking for the speaker of the House specifically.

  He has now been charged with multiple counts, including, Judy, a very serious one, attempted murder, attempted homicide, as well as assault with a deadly weapon. There is a joint task force, the FBI, Capitol Police, and San Francisco police, working on this case.

• Judy Woodruff:

  So, Lisa, a lot of questions, obviously, about how he managed to get in. Where was the security at her home in San Francisco?

  What is known right now about threats against lawmakers and how they're being protected?

• Lisa Desjardins:

  We're going to be talking about this, I think, for a few days, at least, as we understand this event more. But here's what I know.

  There was no police force there securing the residence. There is not security at the speaker's home when she is not there. This is the case for all the protectors in Congress. Remember, as many of our viewers know well, she is second in line to be president of the United States.

• Judy Woodruff:

  Yes.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  And yet no security at that residence at all, other than any private security, maybe cameras or something, that they might have had.

  Now, this summer, the House of Representatives did give a lot, $10,000, for every member of the House for the first time to spend on personal security at their home. They were encouraging things like cameras. Some members were able to do that. And some members are still working on that.

  But we know, Judy, as you reported, threats are rising still in both parties. Here we are now coming up on two years after January 6. Still, the threats are rising to an incredible level. I spoke to members of Congress today on the phone and staffers who say, it is not subsiding. Our officers are — our offices are still getting these threats.

  Now, it is to both parties, however, lopsided.

• Judy Woodruff:

  Yes.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  More Democrats getting threats, people are in competitive races, leaders, anywhere on the January 6 Committee. They have a detail with them all the time, and women of color in particular getting these threats.

  Also, Judy, unfortunately, as there's more demand and need for security, there are fewer Capitol Police officers. There are 10 percent fewer Capitol Police officers today than there were before January 6.

• Judy Woodruff:

  So, so much has changed, and yet you're saying the protection level has gone down.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Correct.

• Judy Woodruff:

  Well, just…

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Or the number of officers, rather, has gone down.

• Judy Woodruff:

  The number of officers, to be exact.

  Well, so much here to unpack. And I know you're going to be reporting on this in days to come.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  I will.

• Judy Woodruff:

  Thank you, Lisa.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  You're welcome.