Filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi revealed that her father, Paul Pelosi, is healing after an alleged hammer attack at his home in San Francisco several weeks ago.
“He is getting better every day. Thank you for asking,” Alexandra Pelosi told CBS. “The scars are healing. I mean, he looks like Frankenstein. The scars are healing, but I think the emotional scars, I don’t know if those ever heal.”
She said she hadn’t slept since the night of the attack and claimed that some officials made light of the attack. While she avoided naming certain figures, she said that “nobody should think it is funny that an 82-year-old man got attacked in the middle of the night.”
Prosecutors said Paul Pelosi was at home when suspect David DePape, 42, allegedly entered his home on Oct. 28 and asked for Nancy Pelosi. DePape then “violently assaulted” Paul with a hammer before he was detained by law enforcement.
The elder Pelosi was then taken to a nearby hospital for treatment for a fractured skull, arm injuries, and other health issues. He was released about a week after he underwent emergency surgery, it was confirmed.
In mid-November, Nancy Pelosi announced that she plans to step down from her leadership role in the House in 2023 after decades of leading the Democratic Party. Previously, she indicated that the attack would influence future political decisions, although she was reelected to another term in Congress during the recent midterm elections.
DePape remains in jail after he pleaded not guilty to state charges last month. He also faces federal charges in connection to the incident.
“If things were the way they described, why not show everybody the photos?” Taub said, referring to the crime scene and police body-camera footage. “Everybody would just believe them.”
Further, she claimed that DePape had “progressive” viewpoints and likely wouldn’t harbor ill thoughts against Pelosi. However, she said she hadn’t been in contact with DePape in recent months.
“David was a peace activist. He never expressed any desires to solve political problems through violence. He went to a lot of anti-war protests and participated in nonviolent resistance,” Taub said.
Instead, DePape may have been under the influence of drugs. Some people who knew him told the New York Post that he was abusing substances and was embracing right-leaning viewpoints.
“David is a really sweet person, and I really don’t believe that he did what he’s accused of,” Taub said.
DePape was charged with attempted murder and other crimes in connection to the incident, prosecutors said last month, noting that he was on a “suicide mission” and had additional targets, according to court papers.
“It’s very sad to see that we are once again at the point in history where people believe that it’s OK to express their political sentiments through violence,” top San Francisco prosecutor Brooke Jenkins said in a statement. “It demonstrates that we have to calm things down. We have to decide that we’re going to be more respectful as an American society.”
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