After two months the San Francisco Police Department has finally released the 911 call audio and the bodycam video of the October 28th attack on Paul Pelosi.
In the call, Mr. Pelosi can be heard saying, “There’s a gentleman here waiting for my wife to come back, Nancy Pelosi. I don’t know who he is…” Seconds later, another voice comes in on the call: “My name’s David.”
The first thing you notice is the calmness in Paul Pelosi’s voice on the 911 call. It’s obvious that David DePape is standing right next to Mr. Pelosi and his voice is loud and clear. Mr. Pelosi sounds as if he’s trying to convey to the dispatcher that he’s in need of police assistance without alerting Mr. DePape. But still why would an attacker just stand there and allow his victim to call 911 in the first place? Very strange indeed.
Then there seems to be a little confusion on Pelosi’s part as he asks the SFPD dispatcher if the Capitol Police are around and that they’re usually there protecting his wife. The dispatcher replies that no, this is the San Francisco police.
After that exchange you hear Pelosi ask DePape, “Okay, well… um, what do you think?” To which DePape responds, “Everything’s good.”
The whole 911 tape is truly bizarre.
An officer’s body-cam captured him arriving at the scene. The officer could be heard asking DePape what’s going on, to which he responded, “Everything’s good.” The officer asked DePape to drop a hammer he and Mr. Pelosi were both holding, but DePape replied, “Uh, nope.”
Moments later, the footage captured DePape pull the hammer from Mr. Pelosi’s grasp and strike him with it repeatedly. The officer quickly tackled DePape as Mr. Pelosi laid unconscious on the ground. The officer, Kyle Cagney, testified in December that the ordeal happened in a matter of seconds.
One of my first takeaways from the body cam footage, besides the fact that neither parties appear to be in distress when the door opens, is that Mr. Pelosi is holding what looks like a cocktail in his left hand.
If it’s true, as stated in court documents, that DePape awakened Pelosi by standing over his bed making threats and demanding to know where his wife, Nancy is, why would Paul get out of bed and fix a drink?
In addition to the body-cam footage, the files include audio from police interviews with DePape and home surveillance video.
The videos were exhibits in a preliminary court hearing. The court’s decision mandating the public release of the materials came following a motion by a coalition of news organizations arguing that the circumstances involving the residence of the then-speaker of the House demanded transparency.
Lawyers for DePape argued against the public release of the audio and footage, writing it would “irreparably damage” his right to a fair trial. DePape has pleaded not guilty to a litany of state and federal crimes related to the attack, including assault and attempted murder.
Court documents revealed DePape allegedly woke Paul Pelosi shortly after 2 a.m., carrying a large hammer and several white zip ties, and demanded: “Where’s Nancy? Where’s Nancy?” He then threatened to tie up Paul Pelosi and prevented him from escaping via elevator, according to the documents. DePape later allegedly told him, “I can take you out.”
Paul Pelosi placed a 911 call after convincing the assailant to let him go to the bathroom, where his phone was charging, and he spoke cryptically to police.
Following the attack, Paul Pelosi underwent surgery “to repair a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands,” a spokesman for Nancy Pelosi said in a statement.
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