EXCLUSIVE: Pelosi Neighbor Says Security Alarm Didn’t Sound at Time of Hammer Attack

EXCLUSIVE: Pelosi Neighbor Says Security Alarm Didn’t Sound at Time of Hammer Attack
Two black SUVs with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's security detail wait outside her San Francisco home Nov. 2, 2022. (Darlene Sanchez for The Epoch Times)
Darlene McCormick Sanchez
11/3/2022
Updated:
11/4/2022
0:00

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.—A neighbor living across the street from the home of Nancy and Paul Pelosi was awake when the House speaker’s husband was assaulted but didn’t hear an alarm or anything unusual.

“No, not a thing, and you know we were awake at that hour in the morning; my husband was awake. We didn’t even hear sirens,” neighbor Sally McNulty told The Epoch Times.

McNulty, who has lived in the neighborhood for 20 years, said everything was quiet around the time of the 2 a.m. attack on Oct. 28.

“This is one of the quietest streets in the city,” she said. “You can hear a pin drop at night.”

McNulty said she doesn’t recall ever hearing the Pelosis’ alarm go off in the past, though she has occasionally heard others in the neighborhood.

She said that Paul Pelosi had no enemies she knew of and was well-liked.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and her husband Paul Pelosi arrive for the 42nd Annual Kennedy Awards Honors in Washington on Dec. 8, 2019. (Joshua Roberts/Reuters)
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and her husband Paul Pelosi arrive for the 42nd Annual Kennedy Awards Honors in Washington on Dec. 8, 2019. (Joshua Roberts/Reuters)

“He’s a lovely guy, very popular and nice,” she said. “I can’t imagine anyone having animosity towards Paul Pelosi.”

The neighbor, who was out for a walk, said he knew “just what everybody else knows.”

Other neighbors declined to comment.

Questions remain about the lack of an alarm or security at the Pelosi home at the time of the attack. Cameras are visible at the front and side of the brick residence from the street.

The U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) in Washington actively monitors the speaker’s home only when she is there, according to a statement by USCP issued on Nov. 2 after questions arose about the cameras.

The speaker was in Washington on the morning of the attack. The cameras at her home “were not actively monitored as they are when the Speaker is at the residence,” the statement said.

“The Command Center personnel noticed the police activity on the screen and used the feeds to monitor the response and assist investigators.”

Marjorie Campbell, a former neighbor of the Pelosis for 10 years, told the Daily Mail she recalled fleets of black SUVs surrounding the house around the clock when she stayed there.

Everyone in the neighborhood has alarms on their windows, and if glass were smashed, an alarm would sound, she told the publication. Campbell recalled her computers getting scrambled by alleged security measures to protect the congresswoman.

Nancy Pelosi was at her Pacific Heights home, the site of the attack, on Nov. 2 while several dark SUVs were parked outside. Capitol Police were present, too, as were multiple San Francisco Police Department cars.

Paul Pelosi had surgery to address a skull fracture and other injuries at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, after 42-year-old David DePape allegedly fractured his skull with a hammer on Oct. 28.

DePape pleaded not guilty to an attempted murder charge during a brief appearance in San Francisco Superior Court on Nov. 1.
David DePape in Berkeley, Calif., on Dec. 13, 2013. (Michael Short/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
David DePape in Berkeley, Calif., on Dec. 13, 2013. (Michael Short/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

According to San Francisco Assistant District Attorney Allison Garbutt Macbeth, DePape smashed his body through a window to break into the Pelosis’ home while carrying a hammer and several plastic zip ties. After breaking in, he allegedly confronted Paul Pelosi at his bedside at around 2 a.m. and began asking for the whereabouts of the congresswoman.

According to court documents filed on Nov. 1 by the office of San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, DePape was on a “suicide mission.” The court filing was first obtained by The New York Times.

DePape was ordered held without bail. His next court hearing is scheduled for Nov. 4.

The defendant allegedly forced his way into the Pelosi home, intending to take the person second-in-line to the presidency of the United States as a hostage and seriously harm her.

Although the speaker wasn’t home, the defendant “continued on his quest and would not be stopped, culminating in the near-fatal attack on Mr. Pelosi,” the court filing said.

DePape told medics and officers at the scene that he was “sick of the insane [expletive] level of lies coming out of Washington, D.C.,” according to the court filing.

“I didn’t really want to hurt him, but you know this was a suicide mission,” DePape allegedly said. “I’m not going to stand here and do nothing even if it cost me my life.”

DePape allegedly “named several targets,” including a local professor, prominent state and federal politicians, and their relatives.

The defendant allegedly told the police he intended to hold the speaker hostage, interrogate her, and “break her kneecaps” if she lied to him.

DePape allegedly said, “they are all corrupt” and “we’ve got to take them all out.”

Paul Pelosi reportedly called 911 from a bathroom. But before the police arrived, he “reached out and put his hand” on the hammer.

Two police officers arrived and saw that the men each had a hand on the hammer. One of the officers reportedly ordered DePape to drop it, but he allegedly didn’t comply.

DePape then allegedly wrestled the hammer away from Pelosi, stepped back, and lunged at him, “striking Mr. Pelosi in the head at full force with the hammer.”

The court filing said that the officers rushed into the house, tackled the defendant, and disarmed him.

“Mr. Pelosi remained unresponsive for about three minutes, waking up in a pool of his own blood.”

Police allegedly found another hammer, a laptop, and more zip ties in DePape’s backpack.

Frank Fang contributed to this report.
Darlene McCormick Sanchez reports for The Epoch Times from Texas. She writes on a variety of issues with a focus on Texas politics, election fraud, and the erosion of traditional values. She previously worked as an investigative reporter and covered crime, courts, and government for newspapers in Texas, Florida, and Connecticut. Her work on The Sinful Messiah series, which exposed Branch Davidians leader David Koresh, was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist for investigative reporting in the 1990s.
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