Joe Biden says Paul Pelosi is ‘doing better’ – and that attack appeared to be ‘intended’ for US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Joe Biden has said that Paul Pelosi is doing better following an attack at his home – and said it appeared like the assault was intended for his wife Nancy, the Speaker of the House.
The US president made the comments after he described the violent assault yesterday as “despicable”, while San Francisco’s police chief said it was “not a random attack”.
Mr Pelosi, 82, is recovering from a skull fracture after he was attacked by an intruder with a hammer on Friday.
The intruder – David DePape – broke into the couple’s home in San Francisco at around 2.30am, reportedly looking for the US House Speaker.
Police said officers were called to the house for a “wellbeing check” and arrived to find both men holding the hammer.
They said the suspect then pulled the hammer away from Mr Pelosi and used it to “violently assault” him, before being tackled by officers.
At some point, the suspect searched for the Democratic leader shouting, “Where is Nancy? Where is Nancy?”
‘Despicable’
The US president was quick to condemn the attack on Mr Pelosi and drew parallels between the attack on the House speaker’s husband and the US Capitol riots.
Speaking at an event in Philadelphia on Friday evening, he said he had earlier spoken to Mrs Pelosi and she reported that her husband was in “good spirits”.
He then addressed reports that the assailant had repeated the “same chant” heard during the 6 January 2021 riots.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Biden condemns attack on Pelosi’s husband
“The chant was: ‘Where’s Nancy?'” Mr Biden said, calling it “despicable.”
“There’s too much violence, political violence,” the president added, suggesting that election denialism and claims that COVID-19 was a “hoax” had eroded the political climate.
“Every person of good conscience needs to clearly and unambiguously stand up against the violence in our politics, regardless of what your politics are,” he said.
Nancy and Paul Pelosi pictured in 2018
‘Not a random act’
Meanwhile, San Francisco Police Chief William Scott told a news conference on Friday night that the attack on Mr Pelosi at their San Francisco home was “intentional”.
He said: “This was not a random act. This was intentional. And it’s wrong.”
Mr Scott declined to comment further on a possible motive for the assault and said the investigation was ongoing.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Pelosi attacker named after ‘violent assault’
Mr Pelosi was rushed to hospital and underwent surgery for a skull fracture and severe injuries to his right arm and hands, a spokesperson said.
He is expected to make a full recovery.
Posts about QAnon
DePape, 42, has been charged with attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, burglary and several other felony charges.
His motive has not yet been made clear.
The suspect appears to have made racist and often rambling posts online, including some that echoed QAnon conspiracy theories, according to initial investigations.
His posts also questioned the results of the 2020 election and defended former president Donald Trump.
The 42-year-old grew up in Powell River, British Columbia, before leaving about 20-years-ago to follow an older girlfriend to San Francisco. A street address listed for DePape in the Bay Area college town of Berkeley led to a post office box at a UPS Store.
The attack is being investigated by San Francisco police, Capitol Police, and the FBI.
It comes amid growing concern about the safety of America’s politicians almost two years after the Capitol insurrection in January 2021, when Mrs Pelosi’s office was ransacked.
Denmark’s foreign minister has summoned the top US diplomat in the country over a report alleging that people connected to Donald Trump have been carrying out covert influence operations in Greenland.
The move to summon the American charge d’affaires came after Denmark’s national broadcaster reported on Wednesday that at least three people linked to the US president have been involved in such operations.
Mr Trump has repeatedly said he seeks US jurisdiction over Greenland – a vast, semi-autonomous territory of Denmark. He has not ruled out military force to take control of the mineral-rich, strategically located Arctic island.
Denmark, a US NATO ally, and Greenland have both stated that the island is not for sale and have criticised reports of US intelligence-gathering activities in the territory.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Why does Trump want Greenland?
Danish public broadcaster DR reported on Wednesday that unnamed Danish government and security insiders, as well as unidentified sources in Greenland and the US, believe that at least three Americans with connections to Mr Trump have been carrying out covert influence operations.
According to the report, one individual allegedly created a list of Greenlanders supportive of the US, gathered the names of those critical of Mr Trump, and encouraged locals to highlight incidents that could portray Denmark negatively in the American media.
Two others reportedly attempted to build relationships with local politicians, business figures, and residents.
An influence operation is an organised effort to shape how people in a society think in order to achieve certain political, military or other objectives.
DR said its report is based on information from eight sources who believe the objective is to undermine Denmark’s relationship with Greenland by influencing Greenlandic society from within.
The US embassy in Copenhagen directed queries on the issue to Washington.
Read more from Sky News:
Family of Briton held in India asks Foreign Office to help
Nazi-looted painting ‘spotted in property listing’
The Danish broadcaster said it had been unable to clarify whether the Americans were working at their own initiative or on orders from someone else. It said it knows their names but chose not to publish them in order to protect its sources.
Sky News is unable to independently verify those claims.
“We are aware that foreign actors continue to show an interest in Greenland and its position in the Kingdom of Denmark,” Danish foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said in a statement released by his ministry.
“It is therefore not surprising if we experience outside attempts to influence the future of the kingdom in the time ahead.
“Any attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of the kingdom will of course be unacceptable,” Mr Rasmussen said.
Cooperation between the governments of Denmark and Greenland “is close and based on mutual trust,” he added.
Responding to a request for comment, the Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET) said it believes that “particularly in the current situation, Greenland is a target for influence campaigns of various kinds” that could aim to create divisions in the relationship between Denmark and Greenland
The service said it has consistently increased its efforts and presence in Greenland in collaboration with local authorities and plans to maintain this approach moving forward.
Donald Trump has said he wants to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un again.
Speaking at the White House as he held talks with the new South Korean president Lee Jae Myung, Mr Trump told reporters: “I’d like to meet him this year… I look forward to meeting with Kim Jong Un in the appropriate future.”
“I’d like to have a meeting. I got along great with him,” President Trump said, adding they “became very friendly” during his first term in office.
“We think we can do something in that regard,” he said, adding that he would like to help the relationship between the two Koreas.
Trump and Kim at the demilitarized zone in June 2019. Pic: Reuters
Mr Trump and Mr Kim held three meetings between 2018 and 2019 during Mr Trump’s first term and exchanged a number of, what the president called, “beautiful” letters.
In June 2019, Mr Trump briefly stepped into North Korea from the demilitarized zone (DMZ) with South Korea.
The US president on Monday responded to a question about whether he would return to the DMZ by fondly recalling the last time he did so.
“Remember when I walked across the line and everyone went crazy?” especially the Secret Service, Mr Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
But “I loved it”, Mr Trump said. He added he felt safe because he had a good relationship with Mr Kim.
Mr Trump met South Korea’s Lee Jae Myung at the Oval Office on Monday. Pic: Reuters
Mr Trump became the first sitting American president to set foot on North Korean soil six years ago.
However, little progress was made in curbing North Korea’s nuclear programme, and Mr Trump acknowledged in March this year that Pyongyang is a “nuclear power”.
Read more from Sky News:
Temperature records broken in Wales and Northern Ireland
Ex-champion expecting ‘big fine’ after outburst at US Open
Since Mr Trump’s first-term meetings with Mr Kim ended, North Korea has shown no interest in returning to talks.
The White House said in June that Mr Trump would welcome communications with Mr Kim.
The attempts at rapprochement come after the election in South Korea of Mr Lee, who has pledged to reopen dialogue with North Korea.
As a gesture of engagement in June, Mr Lee suspended South Korean loudspeakers blasting music and messages into the North at the DMZ along their shared border.
Analysts say, however, that engaging North Korea will likely be more difficult for both Mr Lee and Mr Trump than it was in the president’s first term.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
Since then, North Korea has significantly expanded its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes.
And it has developed close ties with Russia through direct support for Moscow’s war in Ukraine, with Pyongyang providing both troops and weaponry.
Mr Kim told Russian President Vladimir Putin that his country will always stand with Moscow, state media reported in June.
US rapper Lil Nas X has pleaded not guilty after being charged with assaulting a police officer while walking in downtown Los Angeles in his underwear.
The musician, real name Montero Lamar Hill, was taken to hospital and arrested after police responded to reports of a naked man shortly before 6am on Thursday.
The district attorney’s office said on Monday that Lil Nas X faces three counts of battery with injury on a police officer and one count of resisting an executive officer.
He was being held on a $75,000 (£55,457) bail, conditional on attending drug treatment. It is not immediately clear whether he had posted it and been released yet.
He is set to return to court on 15 September for his next pre-trial hearing.
Pic: AP
During the hearing on Monday, Hill’s lawyer Christy O’Connor told the judge he had led a “remarkable” life, adding: “Assuming the allegations here are true, this is an absolute aberration in this person’s life.
“Nothing like this has ever happened to him.”
A law enforcement source told Sky’s US partner network, NBC News, on Thursday that the Old Town Road and Industry Baby hitmaker punched an officer twice in the face during the encounter.
The source added officers were unsure whether he was on any substances or in mental distress.
Read more from Sky News:
Black cab rapist under investigation
National Guard to begin carrying firearms in DC
Trump says he wants to meet Kim Jong Un again
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
NBC News cited TMZ footage where Hill was seen walking down the middle of Ventura Boulevard at 4am on Thursday in a pair of white briefs and cowboy boots.
In the videos, Hill tells a driver to “come to the party” in one clip and in another tells the person: “Didn’t I tell you to put the phone down?”
“Uh oh, someone’s going to have to pay for that,” Hill says as he continues to walk away.
In some clips, Hill struts as if he’s on a catwalk, posing for onlookers, and at one point he places an orange traffic cone on his head.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment11 months agoHere are the best electric bikes you can buy at every price level in October 2024