Paul Pelosi attack: Nancy Pelosi’s husband ‘battered with a hammer’

The assailant who violently assaulted Nancy Pelosi’s husband with a hammer on early Friday was looking for the speaker herself when he broke into their San Francisco home, shouting ‘Where’s Nancy?’

Speaker Pelosi was in Washington D.C. when the suspect entered through a sliding glass door at the back of the couple’s residence.

His target was Speaker Nancy Pelosi, ABC News reported.  Instead, the intruder found her husband Paul Pelosi. He confronted the 82-year-old, yelling: ‘Where is Nancy, where is Nancy?,’ CNN reported.

Paul Pelosi, the speaker’s husband of 59 years, was left with significant injuries in the assault. 

The intruder is in custody. Paul Pelosi is in the hospital where he is expected to make a full recovery, the speaker’s office said. 

He suffered from blunt force trauma injuries to his head and body in the attack, the Associated Press reported. He is being treated at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital for bruising, severe swelling and other injuries.

The assault occurred at 2:27 a.m. at the Pelosis’ $6million property in the exclusive San Francisco neighborhood of Pacific Heights. As speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi has a fulltime security detail with her but her husband would not have federal protection.

President Joe Biden spoke with Speaker Pelosi Friday morning. He condemned the violence.

‘The President is praying for Paul Pelosi and for Speaker Pelosi’s whole family,’ said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in a statement. ‘This morning he called Speaker Pelosi to express his support after this horrible attack. He is also very glad that a full recovery is expected. The President continues to condemn all violence, and asks that the family’s desire for privacy be respected.’

The suspect has not been named and the motivation of the assault are under investigation, her office said.

The home of the millionaire couple has been the frequent target of protests.

In January 2021, a pig’s head was left outside her garage door with red paint in a demonstration saying $2,000 COVID relief checks were not enough.

The San Francisco Police Department said Police Chief William Scott will address the media later Friday morning about the incident. The SFPD, U.S. Capitol Police and FBI are conducting a joint investigation. 

Paul Pelosi made headlines earlier this year when he was arrested for DUI in Napa Valley when he crashed his Porsche near one of the properties in their portfolio.

Political attacks have been on the rise this year. 

Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida claimed that one of his supporters was attacked while out canvassing this week.  And Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger said he’s received death threats against himself and his family after serving on the committee investigating the January 6th insurrection at the Capitol.

Paul Pelosi, the husband of Nancy Pelosi, was violently assaulted at their home in San Francisco on Friday morning

The Pelosis own a four-bedroom San Francisco home that sits in the middle of her congressional district and was purchased in 2007 for $2.2 million but is thought to be worth at least $6 million now

FBI agents work outside the home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi where her husband Paul Pelosi was ‘violently assaulted’ after a break-in at their house

San Francisco police officers and FBI agents in front of Pelosi’s home on Friday morning – U.S. Capitol Police are also working with the officers on the investigation

‘Early this morning, an assailant broke into the Pelosi residence in San Francisco and violently assaulted Mr. Pelosi,’ Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said in a statement Friday.

A booking photo provided by the Napa County Sheriff’s Office shows Paul Pelosi on May 29, 2022, following his arrest on suspicion of DUI in Northern California; he pled guilty to driving under the influence and was sentenced to three years probation and five days of jail time, getting credit for time served

‘The assailant is in custody and the motivation for the attack is under investigation. Mr. Pelosi was taken to the hospital, where he is receiving excellent medical care and is expected to make a full recovery,’ Hammill added.

The family requested privacy. 

‘The Speaker and her family are grateful to the first responders and medical professionals involved, and request privacy at this time,’ Hammill said.

Well wishes poured in for the 82-year-old.

‘What happened to Paul Pelosi was a dastardly act,’ Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement. ‘I spoke with Speaker Pelosi earlier this morning and conveyed my deepest concern and heartfelt wishes to her husband and their family, and I wish him a speedy recovery.’

Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell said he was ‘horrified’ at the news.

‘Horrified and disgusted by the reports that Paul Pelosi was assaulted in his and Speaker Pelosi’s home last night. Grateful to hear that Paul is on track to make a full recovery and that law enforcement including our stellar Capitol Police are on the case,’ McConnell said.

Upscale Pacific Heights, where the Pelosis own their home, has not been immune from a crime wave hitting San Francisco. In recent months a nearby neighbor revealed how he was robbed at gunpoint outside his own mansion in the area.

Major crimes in San Francisco are up 7.4 percent so far this year from the same period in 2021, with assault up 11.1 percent and robbery up 5.2 percent.

Amid scenes of misery on city streets, where drug use is brazen and homelessness is rampant, a recent poll found that a majority of San Franciscans believe their city is going down hill, and a third plan to leave the city within three years. 

Pelosi is second in line for the presidency and one of the highest-ranking women in government. 

She is also one of the most well-known members of the House and is a frequent Republican target in election years, when they attempt to tie Democratic candidates to the liberal speaker from San Francisco. 

It’s not the first time the Pelosi home has been targeted. 

In January of last year, the Pelosis’ Pacific Heights home was vandalized overnight with a pig’s head surrounded in a pool of red paint, as well as a spray-painted message appearing to allude to the failed $2,000 stimulus checks. 

After the January 6th insurrection that saw Donald Trump’s MAGA supporters swarm the Capitol to try and stop the certification of the presidential election, lawmakers were given greater leniency to spend their campaign funds on security. 

And threats of physical violence increased.

In the five years after Trump was elected president in 2016, the number of recorded threats against members of Congress increased more than tenfold, to 9,625 in 2021, according to figures from the Capitol Police.

In the first quarter of 2022, the latest period for which figures were available, the force opened 1,820 cases, the New York Times found.

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Republican Senator Susan Collins had her home vandalized with a storm window broken this election year.

‘I wouldn’t be surprised if a senator or House member were killed,’ Collins told The New York Times earlier this month. ‘What started with abusive phone calls is now translating into active threats of violence and real violence.’ 

Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, a frequent target of Trump’s wrath, has spent $70,000 on security measures. 

Democratic Rep. Cori Black, a prominent black liberal, has spent the most among House lawmakers: close to $400,000. She has said she’s received multiple death threats.

Police tape is seen in front of the San Francisco home of Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Officers are investigating a motivation on the attack on Paul Pelosi

Nancy Pelosi (2nd L) and Paul Pelosi (2nd R) attend Global Citizen Festival 2022 in New York in September with grandchildren Paul and Thomas

In January of last year, Nancy Pelosi ‘s San Francisco home has been vandalized with red paint, a pigs head and a spray painted message

Paul and Nancy Pelosi married in 1963 and have five children; above they are seen together in London last year when she had meetings at 10 Downing Street

Often at Speaker Pelosi’s side at political events, Paul Pelosi is a businessman based in the Bay Area. He and Speaker Pelosi married in 1963 and have five children.

The couple owns a four-bedroom San Francisco home that sits in the middle of her congressional district and was purchased in 2007 for $2.2 million but is thought to be worth at least $6 million now. 

Pelosi is one of the wealthiest members of Congress with a fortune of $29.3 million according to an analysis of her financial disclosure forms by Roll Call.

She and Paul Pelosi own multiple properties spread over several states. She spends most of her time in Washington D.C where she has a $2.6 million condo in the upscale Georgetown district.

The couple also have a 65-acre wine estate in St Helena, 65 miles north of San Francisco, that boasts a Palladian style house and a Z shaped pool.

According to Roll Call, the property is now worth between $5 million and $2 million and provides the Pelosis with an annual windfall of up to $15,000 from grape sales.

Pelosi also owns a second Napa Valley property worth $1 million which is rented out for up to $50,000 a year according to her financial disclosure forms.

A second rental property worth up to $5 million is located in the upscale Sugar Bowl Ski Resort near Norden, California.

Pig’s head with red paint, pro-choice protesters, YouTube pranksters and threats around January 6: How Nancy Pelosi and her San Francisco home have been the target of constant demonstrations and stunts 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has long been a target of threats, and her San Francisco home has been vandalized, smeared with fake blood while becoming a focal point for protesters for months.

Sometimes it has been a venue for brash political statements. Other times, threats directed against the Speaker have drawn the attention of federal law enforcement.

Pelosi was the target threats both before and during the Capitol riot, and the Capitol Police, whom she helps oversee along with other congressional leaders, have long been trained on potential threats against her.

One such incident occurred on New Years’ Day, 2021, when vandals left fake blood and what appeared to be a pig’s head outside her home in San Francisco’s exclusive Pacific Heights neighborhood.

They scrawled: ‘$2K’, ‘Cancel rent!’ and ‘We want everything,’ in an apparent reference to $2,000 COVID relief checks. The Speaker was seeking to boost covid relief checks at the time.

A slogan spray-painted on her home appeared to reference the push for more COVID relief

Some other protests have been more civil. Homeless advocates placed an ‘eviction notice’ on her $6 million mansion last August as they demanded Congress extend a pandemic eviction moratorium, in a city with an acute homeless problem. 

Last spring, after a leaked draft Supreme Court opinion that would strike down Roe v. Wade, pro-choice protesters gathered outside her house to accuse her of failing to do anything about it. The Supreme Court would ultimately vote to overturn the abortion ruling, but the Senate lacked the votes to try to force through legislation to codify previous protections, notwithstanding Pelosi’s own views on the matter.

Sometimes protesters opted for humor. They hung hair dryers from a tree in front of her home and donned hair curlers after she was spotted visiting a salon that was closed due to the pandemic.

Pelosi’s hometown, a liberal bastion, has a long tradition of political activism and protest. In December 2021 she was interrupted by a protester screaming ‘Let’s Go Brandon,’ a statement that has become a stand-in for an expletive about Joe Biden 

There have also been physical threats against the speaker. She has spent decades in office and is often elevated by her political rivals as the face of the opposition.

Pelosi’s home town of San Francisco has a long tradition of protest. In December 2021 she was interrupted by a protester screaming ‘Let’s Go Brandon,’ a statement that has become a stand-in for an expletive about Joe Biden

Paul Pelosi was in the news this summer, and was sentenced to five days in jail in August following a DUI

During the Capitol riot on January 6, rioters could be heard yelling, ‘Nancy! Oh Nancy! Where are you Nancy?’

People who penetrated the building ended up busting into Pelosi’s Capitol office, sitting in her chair, and removing items including a laptop and a podium. 

Adam Johnson, who took the podium, was sentenced to 75 days in prison. 

Dawn Lee Bancroft, who entered the Capitol and recorded herself saying she wanted to ‘shoot Pelosi in the friggin brain,’ was sentenced to 60 days in prison. 

Richard Barnett, who was photographed sitting in Pelosi’s chair inside her Capitol office, goes to trial in December. He has pleaded not guilty to multiple charges connected to the riot.

On January 4, 2021, the Secret Service found a Parler account that included threats to lawmakers including Pelosi. It stated: ‘ January 6 starts #1776 all over again…Fight for EVERYTHING.’ It also listed ‘Enemies’ including Pelosi, according to Citizens for Responsible Ethics in Washington. 

It wasn’t until January 6 that U.S. Capitol Police received the post, according to CREW. 

The long string of threats and protests came before the violent break-in early Friday, at a time when Congress is out of session and Pelosi has been campaigning around the country for Democrats. 

‘Early this morning, an assailant broke into the Pelosi residence in San Francisco and violently assaulted Mr. Pelosi,’ Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill, said in a statement. ‘The assailant is in custody and the motivation for the attack is under investigation,’

‘Mr. Pelosi was taken to the hospital, where he is receiving excellent medical care and is expected to make a full recovery,’ Hammill said.

A statement from Capitol Police said it was assisting the FBI and San Francisco Police in a joint investigation into the break-in. 

‘The Speaker was in Washington, D.C. with her protective detail at the time of the overnight, break-in. During the California break-in, the Speaker’s husband was assaulted, but he is now recovering. The San Francisco Police Department has the suspect in custody. The motivation for the attack is still under investigation,’ according to Capitol Police.