Paul Pelosi released from hospital 6 days after hammer attack

Paul Pelosi and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

(Image credit: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

published 3 November 2022

Paul Pelosi was released from a San Francisco hospital on Thursday, nearly a week after he was attacked with a hammer by an assailant who broke into his home.

Pelosi is the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), whose office said in a statement that he is at home and "remains under doctors' care as he continues to progress on a long recovery process." Paul Pelosi underwent surgery to repair a skull fracture and serious injures to his right arm and hands, and he is "grateful to the 911 operator, emergency responders, trauma care team, ICU staff, and the entire medical staff for their excellent and compassionate lifesaving treatment," the statement added.

Early last Friday, Pelosi called 911 after a man entered his San Francisco residence. When police officers arrived, they saw the intruder "violently assault" Pelosi with a hammer; he was tackled and arrested. The suspect, 42-year-old David DePape, has been charged with assault, attempted kidnapping, and attempted murder; on Tuesday, he entered a not guilty plea. The FBI affidavit unsealed on Monday says that DePape told officers he was on a "suicide mission" and planned to hold Nancy Pelosi, who wasn't home at the time of the incident, hostage because he was tired of the "lies" being told by politicians in Washington.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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