(RepublicanView.org) – Department of Justice prosecutors are seeking a 40-year prison term for the man convicted of attacking former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband at their California home in 2022. Attorneys propose that the US District Court for the Northern District of California sidestep the recommendations of the federal Probation Office, which has imposed a 25-year term, and bump the sentence up to terrorism levels, even though the attacker was not convicted of a terrorist offense.
US Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey said in a briefing note, “The violent lessons that the defendant wanted to teach are not permitted in this country.”
A San Francisco jury found 44-year-old David DePape guilty of attempted kidnapping of a federal official and assault on the immediate family member of a federal official in late 2023 after seeing video footage of the attack filmed by a police bodycam. It showed Mr. DePape holding a hammer while gripping Mr. Pelosi’s arm and then lashing out with the weapon, hitting the Speaker’s husband on the head as officers rushed to intervene. Paul Pelosi suffered a fractured skull in the assault.
In a recommendation memorandum, federal prosecutors declared that DePape’s attack was not directed solely at Mr. Pelosi but at the American democratic system and that the assailant had shown no remorse. Reports indicate that DePape told reporters from jail in 2023 that he wished he had attacked more Democrats and wasn’t sufficiently prepared for the 2022 assault on Pelosi.
The memorandum furthermore noted that in a divided and tense political climate, it becomes more important for the justice system to send a message that violence will not be tolerated.
David DePape justified his actions by saying he intended to confront political corruption. He has cited the President’s son, Hunter Biden, as an example of high-level corruption and described his plan to break into Pelosi’s home and interrogate her about political dishonesty. Mr. DePape also said he intended to wear an inflatable unicorn costume throughout the interrogation.
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