Nancy and Paul Pelosi were targeted in a 'politically motivated' attack, San Francisco DA says

• The San Francisco DA said the attack on Paul Pelosi was "politically motivated."
• The suspect, David DePape, confronted Pelosi about his wife's whereabouts after breaking into the home.

San Francisco's District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said the attack on Paul Pelosi — the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — at their home was "politically motivated."

At a press conference on Monday, Jenkins provided more details about the shocking assault that occurred on Friday evening after David DePape allegedly broke into the Pelosi residence.

"Yes, it appears based on his statements and comments that were made in that house during his encounter with Mr. Pelosi that this was politically motivated," the district attorney said.

When asked by a reporter if there was any evidence to suggest whether Jenkins would characterize DePape's actions as an assassination attempt, she said DePape was looking for the house speaker during the time he entered the home and that investigators believe there was "an attempt to murder her husband at the time that the police arrived."

On Friday evening, Jenkins said DePape smashed the glass in a back door to the Pelosi home and proceeded to find Mr. Pelosi sleeping on the second floor where he was woken up by DePape who confronted him about his wife's whereabouts.

Jenkins said Pelosi then tried to escape by getting into an elevator inside the home that has a phone but was blocked by DePape. From there, Jenkins said Pelosi asked to go to the bathroom where he called 911 from his cell phone.

When DePape realized Pelosi called law enforcement, he brought him downstairs toward the front door of the home where two police officers showed up minutes after the phone call, the district attorney said.

Jenkins said when police arrived, DePape was holding a hammer and "violently struck him [Pelosi] at the top of his head."

DePape was apprehended and charged with attempted murder, residential burglary, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, false imprisonment of an elder, and threats to a public official and their family, according to Jenkins.

In addition to the state charges, on Monday, the Justice Department announced two felony charges against DePape: one count of assault of an immediate family member of a US official with the intent to retaliate against the official on account of the performance of official duties, and one count of attempted kidnapping of a US official on account of the performance of official duties.

Representatives for Pelosi and the San Francisco district attorney's office did not respond to Insider's request for comment.

Jenkins said during the conference that the attack was a sober reminder of how political divisions today has reached a point of violence.

"It's very sad to see that we are once again at a point in history where people believe that it's okay to express their political sentiments through violence," she said. "I think it really demonstrates that we have to calm things down. We have to decide that we're going to be more respectful as an American society, that it's okay to disagree."