David Wayne DePape, 42, who’s charged with breaking into U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco home and clubbing her husband in the top with a hammer, wears his arm in a sling before San Francisco Superior Court Judge Diane Northway on the Criminal courts in San Francisco, California, November 1, 2022 on this courtroom sketch.
Vicki Behringer | Reuters
The person accused of breaking into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s house and attacking her husband with a hammer might be deported from the U.S. after he’s released from custody, the Department of Homeland Security said Thursday.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, lodged an “immigration detainer” on 42-year-old Canadian national David DePape, the DHS told CNBC in a press release.
The detainer requests that the San Francisco County Jail notify ICE before DePape is completed serving time in order that immigration officers can take custody of him. ICE places immigration detainers on arrested individuals who it believes it will probably deport under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Records show DePape entered the U.S. through the San Ysidro, California, point of entry on the southern border in 2008 as a brief visitor, classified as a B-2, officials said.
Canadian visitors who enter the U.S. for business or pleasure are generally only admitted for six months, officials said.
DePape, in his first court appearance Tuesday, pleaded not guilty to quite a few charges including attempted murder. He’s currently being held without bail, together with his next hearing set for Friday, his public defender said.
The Justice Department has also charged DePape with two federal crimes: attempted kidnapping of a federal official and assaulting a right away member of the family of a United States official with the intent to retaliate against the official, in keeping with his criminal criticism.
Federal charging documents allege that DePape broke into the Pelosis’ San Francisco residence early last Friday, confronting 82-year-old Paul Pelosi in his bedroom and stating “he was on the lookout for Nancy.”
The Democratic House speaker was in Washington, D.C., on the time. Paul Pelosi managed to call 911, and when officers arrived, DePape struck him in the top with the hammer, authorities said.
DePape himself later told police he saw the House speaker because the “‘leader of the pack’ of lies told by the Democratic Party,” a federal affidavit said. He said he desired to hold her hostage and seek advice from her, and if she lied he would break her kneecaps, the document said.
DePape arrived on the San Francisco home toting zip ties, tape, rope and not less than one hammer, in keeping with the affidavit.
In a Tuesday night court filing, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said DePape told police he was on a “suicide mission” and had plans to focus on other California and federal politicians.
Paul Pelosi is recovering within the hospital after undergoing surgery to repair a skull fracture.
