The man accused of bludgeoning Paul Pelosi did not flinch while watching back the police body camera footage off the hammer attack during his trial.
David DePape, a former nudist from Canada, entered the Pelosi home through a back door in the early hours of October 28, 2022, and bludgeoned Paul Pelosi, putting him in the hospital.
On Monday, he watched without flinching as prosecutors played the police body camera footage of the attack, reporters inside the courtroom said.
DePape calmly sat with two defense lawyers at table on left, as prosecutors called witnesses laying out the case.
He sat back in brown leather chair, crossed arms, observing the testimony. He wore a blue sweater over blue button down, clean shaven, hair pulled back into a pony tail.
David DePape didn’t flinch while watching body camera footage of himself with Paul Pelosi at the Pelosi’s San Francisco home
DePape’s attorneys argue that he is not guilty of the charges because he was not after Nancy Pelosi to try to stop her from engaging in her official duties
Police body camera footage captured the moment DePape bludgeoned Paul Pelosi (right) which fractured his skull and put him in the hospital for a week
Paul Pelosi is scheduled to testify in the trial and will recount the night the man broke into his San Francisco home and fractured his skull.
Prosecutors said DePape previously admitted to breaking into the residence with the intention of getting the senior Democrat to acknowledge her party’s ‘lies’ or he would smash her kneecaps.
When he found only her then-82-year-old husband at home, he engaged in what he told officers was a ‘pretty amicable’ exchange, during which Paul Pelosi managed to call for help.
DePape has pleaded not guilty to breaking and entering and attempted murder charges, and a federal trial is underway.
He has struggled with drugs and posts crazed COVID conspiracy theories, anti-Semitic rants, racist slurs and unhinged screeds about religion online.
In opening statements, defense attorney Jodi Linker said she won’t dispute that her client attacked Paul Pelosi, an encounter caught on police body camera video.
In the footage, DePape can apparently be seen bludgeoning Pelosi with a hammer before officers rush at him and take the weapon away.
Pelosi was knocked unconscious and spent almost a week in hospital, where he underwent surgery to repair a skull fracture.
Instead, his attorney will argue that he believed ‘with every ounce of his being’ that he was taking action to stop government corruption and the abuse of children by politicians and actors.
Linker’s argument is that DePape is not guilty of the charges because he was not after Nancy Pelosi to try to stop her from engaging in her official duties.
DePape was wearing a light blue shirt and a dark blue sweater during jury selection
A screenshot of security footage shows DePape outside the Pelosi home during the early hours of October 28, 2022
Paul Pelosi was hit multiple times with the hammer leaving him unconscious as the officers rushed in and arrested DePape
Aerial footage showed broken panes and shattered glass at the backdoor of Pelosi’s home
‘These beliefs matter because both charges require that the government prove that Mr. DePape acted because of her performance of her official duties as a member of Congress,’ Linker said.
She said DePape’s beliefs are ‘wholly unrelated to Nancy Pelosi’s official duties.’
When police arrested DePape, they found a manifesto that contained antigovernmental beliefs and a list of other politicians he planned to target.
He has posted rants on a blog and an online forum about aliens, communists, religious minorities and global elites.
He questioned the results of the 2020 election and echoed the baseless, right-wing QAnon conspiracy theory that claims the U.S. government is run by a cabal of devil-worshipping pedophiles. The websites were taken down shortly after his arrest.
He also has pleaded not guilty to charges in state court of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, residential burglary and other felonies.
A state trial has not been scheduled.