Man who attacked Nancy Pelosi’s husband found guilty of kidnapping – and could face life in prison
A man who brutally attacked Nancy Pelosi’s husband with a hammer and was jailed for 30 years, has also been convicted of kidnapping and could spend the rest of his life in prison.
David DePape was sentenced last month by a federal judge to 30 years in federal prison after he was found guilty of the 2022 attack against Paul Pelosi – husband of the leading Democrat politician.
On Friday, a jury in San Francisco also found DePape guilty of first-degree burglary, false imprisonment of an elder, threatening a family member of a public official, dissuading a witness to the charges and aggravated kidnapping.
DePape was previously convicted of assaulting a federal official’s family member and attempting to kidnap a federal official.
The attack on Mr Pelosi was captured on police body camera video just days before the 2022 midterm elections and shocked US politics.
The then 82-year-old suffered two head wounds including a skull fracture that had to be mended with plates and screws.
Paul Pelosi. Pic: AP
David DePape. Pic: AP
Democratic former house speaker Nancy Pelosi. Pic: AP
In a statement, Mrs Pelosi’s office said: “Speaker Pelosi and her family remain in awe of their pop’s bravery, which shone through again on the witness stand in this trial just as it did when he saved his own life on the night of the attack.
“For nearly 20 gruelling months, Mr Pelosi has demonstrated extraordinary courage and fortitude every day of his recovery.”
DePape’s public defender, Adam Lipson, said he planned to appeal the verdict.
He described the prosecutor’s decision to file a kidnapping for ransom charge during the trial as “vindictive”.
Mr Lipson said: “It’s really unfortunate that it was charged this way. It was sort of a textbook vindictive prosecution.
“As soon as they found that the attempted murder charge was going to be dismissed, they added this charge.”
Mr Lipson had earlier successfully argued that the state trial represented double jeopardy following the federal conviction and even though the courts are different, the cases stem from the same act.
San Francisco superior court judge Harry Dorfman agreed and dismissed the state charges of attempted murder, elder abuse and assault with a deadly weapon.
Another judge upheld the decision on appeal.
Mr Lipson said the state verdict meant that after DePape served his 30 years in federal prison, he would then be transferred to a Californian prison “to spend the rest of his life” there.
In his closing arguments, he told the jury that the prosecution did not prove that DePape kidnapped Mr Pelosi with intent “to exact from another person money or something valuable”, which is integral to the charge.
However, assistant district attorney Phoebe Maffei pointed out that DePape told a detective, and testified in federal court, that he planned to get a video of Mrs Pelosi confessing to what he claimed were crimes – and post it on the internet.
Ms Maffei said: “There is inherent value in a video of the speaker of the House [of Representatives] confessing to crimes in her own home,”.
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Earlier this week, Ms Maffei outlined details of the attack where DePape broke into the politician’s home, entered their bedroom, “held him hostage with a hammer, threatened him, threatened his wife and attempted to kill him.”
Also during proceedings the jury was told that DePape lived a lonely, isolated life and had gone “down the rabbit hole of propaganda and conspiracy theories”.
During the week, the judge also expelled DePape’s former partner from the public gallery, accusing her of trying to tamper with the jury.
Gypsy Taub was handing out pieces of paper outside the courtroom with the address of a conspiracy theory website on them.
Cards were also found in a women’s bathroom nearby with the website’s address scrawled on the wall.
The United States and European Union have agreed a trade deal, says Donald Trump.
The announcement was made as the US president met European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen at one of his golf resorts in Scotland.
Speaking after talks in Turnberry, Mr Trump said the EU deal was the “biggest deal ever made” and it will be “great for cars”.
The US will impose 15% tariffs on EU goods into America, after Mr Trump had threatened a 30% levy.
He said there will be an EU investment of $600bn in the US, the bloc will buy $750bn in US energy and will also purchase US military equipment.
Mr Trump had earlier said the main sticking point was “fairness”, citing barriers to US exports of cars and agriculture.
He went into the talks demanding fairer trade with the 27-member EU and threatening steep tariffs to achieve that, while insisting the US will not go below 15% import taxes.
For months, Mr Trump has threatened most of the world with large tariffs in the hope of shrinking major US trade deficits with many key trading partners, including the EU.
Ms von der Leyen said the agreement would include 15% tariffs across the board, saying it would help rebalance trade between the two large trading partners.
In case there was no deal and the US had imposed 30% tariffs from 1 August, the EU has prepared counter-tariffs on €93bn (£81bn) of US goods.
Ahead of their meeting on Sunday, Ms von der Leyen described Mr Trump as a “tough negotiator and dealmaker”.
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At least 11 people have been stabbed at a Walmart supermarket in Michigan, with six in a critical condition.
Officials say a suspect is in custody – and at this stage, it is believed the attack was a “random act” that involved a folding-style knife near the checkout area.
Sheriff Michael Shea told reporters: “Eleven is 11 too many, but thank God it wasn’t more.”
Pic: AP
The suspect, who is from Michigan, is not known to police – and was captured within three minutes thanks to “citizen involvement”.
The attack unfolded in Traverse City – and Tiffany DeFell, who was in the car park at the time, described scenes of chaos.
“It was really scary. Me and my sister were just freaking out,” she said. “This is something you see out of the movies.”
Beyond the six people in a critical condition, it is believed the remaining five were seriously hurt. All 11 are still being treated in hospital.
Pic: AP
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said: “Our thoughts are with the victims and the community reeling from this brutal act of violence.”
A Walmart spokesperson added that the retailer is working closely with law enforcement.
“Violence like this is unacceptable. Our thoughts are with those who were injured and we’re thankful for the swift action of first responders,” a statement said.
Pic: AP
At this stage, the ages of the victims is unclear – but it is not thought any of the victims were Walmart employees.
Traverse City is about 255 miles northwest of Detroit.
A US passenger plane made a dramatic plunge minutes after take-off to dodge another aircraft – injuring two cabin crew and causing passengers to shoot out of their seats.
The Southwest flight had just taken off from Burbank in California when the pilot received an alert about a nearby plane.
Data from FlightAware shows the aircraft dropped by 91m (300ft) in just 36 seconds. Those on board said they felt panicked, and some feared the plane was about to crash.
Comedian Jimmy Dore posted on X: “Pilot had to dive aggressively to avoid mid-air collision … myself and plenty of people flew out of their seats and bumped heads on ceiling, a flight attendant needed medical attention.”
Stef Zambrano saw a woman who wasn’t wearing her seatbelt thrown out of her seat, who then said: “I want to get off this plane. I want to be on the ground.”
Another passenger, Steve Ulasewicz, told NBC Los Angeles that it felt like the plane was in freefall for 10 seconds.
“People were screaming. You know, it was pandemonium. People thought the plane was going down,” he added.
The aircraft was able to continue to its destination of Las Vegas, where it safely landed without any further incident.
It is believed the Boeing 737 was in the same vicinity as a Hawker Hunter Mk. 58, a British fighter jet.
Southwest is now working with the Federal Aviation Administration “to further understand the circumstances” of the event.
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