The suspect who allegedly injured Paul Pelosi and intended to harm U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi is believed to be in the U.S. illegally and could be “removable” under American immigration laws, officials say.
David DePape, 42, is a Canadian citizen with roots in Powell River, B.C.
He legally entered the United States in 2000 and later left the country and returned a few times, a U.S. official told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.
DePape made a trip to the U.S. on March 8, 2008, as a temporary visitor through San Diego’s San Ysidro border crossing from Tijuana, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE has not yet provided details on other potential entries by DePape.
Canadian visitors are generally allowed to stay in the U.S. for six months and do not require a visa.
ICE lodged an “immigration detainer” on DePape on Nov. 1 and confirmed in a statement on Nov. 3 that DePape is a Canadian national. Canadian and U.S. police forces have over the past week declined to confirm whether DePape was a Canadian citizen, with San Francisco police citing California sanctuary laws and the RCMP referring questions to the San Francisco police.
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“ICE places immigration detainers on individuals who have been arrested on criminal charges and who ICE has probable cause to believe are removable under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA),” ICE said in a statement to Global News on Thursday.
“The detainer requests the other law enforcement agency to notify ICE before a removable individual is released from custody so that ICE can take custody of that person in a safe and secure setting.”
DePape is currently in custody at the San Francisco County Jail following his arrest on Oct. 28. DePape allegedly broke into the Pelosis’ house in San Francisco, demanded to see Nancy Pelosi and hit 82-year-old Paul Pelosi in the head with a hammer.
DePape faces state charges, including attempted murder, and was also charged in federal court with influencing, impeding or retaliating against a federal official by threatening or injuring a family member. He also faces one count of attempted kidnapping of a United States official.
Family members have described DePape as estranged, and American media have reported he was known by some in San Francisco as a pro-nudity activist who appeared to embrace a range of conspiracy theories. DePape has lived for the past two years in a garage at a residence in Richmond, California, according to allegations filed Monday in court.
The eight-page U.S. criminal complaint filed by a domestic terrorism special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation details the alleged attack. It says that DePape smashed a glass door in the back of the home with a hammer and went to Paul Pelosi’s bedroom. Pelosi was in bed asleep and was told by DePape to wake up and that he wanted to speak to “Nancy,” according to the complaint.
Paul Pelosi told DePape his wife was not home and wouldn’t be home for several days, but DePape still said he’d wait for her, the federal complaint read.
Pelosi told DePape he had to use the restroom, allowing him to get to a phone and call 911. In the call, Pelosi said that he did not know who DePape is, according to the complaint.
Police were dispatched to the home in the upscale Pacific Heights neighbourhood in San Francisco around 2:20 a.m. on Oct. 28 and arrived about 10 minutes later to see the two men both holding a hammer, according to the complaint. DePape then struck Paul Pelosi at least once in the head before being restrained by officers.
DePape later told investigators he viewed Nancy Pelosi as the “leader of the pack of lies told by the Democratic Party,” according to the complaint.
“If she were to tell DePape the `truth,’ he would let her go and if she ‘lied,’ he was going to break her kneecaps,” the complaint alleges, noting that DePape was certain she wouldn’t have told “the truth.”
“By breaking Nancy’s kneecaps, she would then have to be wheeled into Congress, which would show other members of Congress there were consequences to actions,” the complaint says DePape told investigators.
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