[ad_1]
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 2 (AP) — A San Francisco judge ordered Tuesday that the man accused of breaking into the home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, beating her husband and trying to kidnap her was held without bail.
Defendant David DePap’s attorney, Adam Lipson, entered a plea of not guilty on behalf of DePap at a brief hearing in San Francisco Superior Court. It was the first public appearance since DePape, a fringe activist who attacked the conspiracy theory earlier on Friday.
Also read | Vladimir Putin suffers from Parkinson’s disease and pancreatic cancer, claims report.
DePape, in his orange prison uniform, just told Judge Diane Northway how to pronounce his surname. Northway plans to hold a hearing on Friday to reconsider whether to grant 42-year-old DePape bail.
After the hearing, Lipson said he was looking forward to providing a “strong defense” for DePapp. He also said he first saw DePape on Monday night and has yet to see the police report.
Also read | Tokyo began recognizing same-sex partnerships, issuing certificates to Japanese couples.
“We will conduct a full investigation into what happened. We will investigate the mental state of Mr. DePape, and I will not discuss this further until more information is available,” Lipson said, pointing to the state court’s unbonded detainee is a contentious issue because DePape has also been put on federal hold in the case.
The attack on 82-year-old Paul Pelosi sent shockwaves through the political world just days before the hotly contested midterm elections. Threats against lawmakers and election officials have been at an all-time high in the first national election since Jan. 6, 2021, with riots in the Capitol and authorities have warned of rising extremism in the United States.
DePape faces state charges of attempted murder, burglary and elder abuse. He faces federal charges, including attempted kidnapping of a U.S. official. The charges, outlined in an affidavit detailing the attack, were largely captured by police body camera images after authorities responded to a 911 call at Pelosis’s Pacific Heights home.
In Washington, U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Mag on Tuesday provided members of Congress with a sobering update on security protocols.
While many improvements have been made since the Capitol attack, including hiring nearly 280 officers by the end of the year, “there’s still a lot of work to be done,” Mag said.
“We believe that today’s political climate requires more resources to provide MPs with additional physical security,” he said.
Mag said the attack on Pelosi’s husband was a “shocking reminder of the dangerous threats to elected officials and public figures in today’s contentious political climate.”
Speaker Pelosi was in Washington at the time and was protected by her security details, which did not involve family members. She quickly returned to San Francisco, where her husband was hospitalized and underwent surgery for a fractured skull and other injuries.
District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said the attack on Paul Pelosi appeared to be premeditated, and she called on Americans to “play down” political rhetoric. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from the Syndicated News feed, the body of the content may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
[ad_2]
Source link
