Questions that STILL remain after Paul Pelosi police bodycam footage of hammer attack is released

The dramatic police bodycam footage showing the violent attack on Paul Pelosi finally provides a glimpse of the incident which triggered a string of conspiracy theories.

A court ordered the release of the video despite protests from the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, who said it could be manipulated to spread misinformation.

Ironically, the delay in sharing the footage prompted a stream of speculation and some baseless claims about the attack.

In the footage, we see the moment police officers Kolby Wilmes and Kyle Cagney approached the grandiose Pelosi residence at around 2:31am on Friday, October 28, after Paul Pelosi dialed 911.

Previous court documents have revealed his attacker, David DePape, smashed a downstairs window to gain entry to the mansion while Pelosi was asleep upstairs. 

After a confrontation in which DePape said he was searching for Nancy, Paul Pelosi was able to make the 911 call at 2.23am – a transcript of which was also released today – from his bathroom.

The bodycam video shows Wilmes and Colby approach the entrance to the property and knock several times. It takes about 17 seconds before the door is answered and the officers are faced with Pelosi and DePape stood side-by-side in the hallway of the home.

DePape is wielding the hammer and Pelosi appears to be holding onto it with his right hand. Pelosi is also holding a drink and at one point appears to smile as an officer asks: ‘What’s going on, man?’

DePape responds, ‘everything’s good’, before an officer shines a flashlight which shows the hammer. Police then order DePape to ‘drop the hammer’ but he responds, ‘erm, nope’, and after a brief struggle with Pelosi, unleashes the brutal attack.

A key question that was raised before the video’s release was why Pelosi didn’t immediately tell police it was an emergency and that he was in danger. The incident was perceived as unusual because the attack came after police arrived.

The video appears to show that Pelosi had been attempting to keep DePape calm before police arrived and was reluctant to do anything that might aggravate his attacker.

There are only a matter second between the door being answered and DePape launching his attack. Pelosi attempts to wrestle the hammer from DePape’s hands – and by the time police storm into the property, it’s too late to stop the attacker striking Pelosi over the head

Paul Pelosi was left unconscious after he was struck with the hammer, before the officers rush in and arrested DePape

He keeps one hand on the hammer in DePape’s hand, apparently in an attempt to prevent the attack.

The responding officers were seemingly unaware exactly what was going on in the home before they arrived – and despite their efforts to make DePape drop the weapon, the attack unfolds quickly.

Nevertheless, there was a split-second when the officers could have rushed at DePape before he was able to land the devastating strike which fractured Pelosi’s skull.

Pelosi’s smile and seemingly relaxed nature, along with the drink in his hand, also raise questions about what happened before officers arrived.

Aerial footage showed broken panes and shatter glass at the backdoor of Pelosi’s home, where DePape gained entry. Some commentators said the glass scattered outside of the property suggested it could have been broken from outside

Further footage revealed today shows DePape scoped out the Pelosi home before returning with the tools to break in by smashing a window and climbing through

David DePape has pleaded not guilty to multiple charges stemming from the October assault

FBI agents work outside the home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi where her husband Paul Pelosi was ‘violently assaulted’ after a break-in at their house

Other disproven theories have suggested Paul Pelosi knew his attacker. High-profile figures including Elon Musk and Donald Trump Jr. shared posts on Twitter which alluded to outrageous conspiracy theories about a so-called relationship between DePape and Pelosi.

The 911 call reveals Pelosi told operator Heather Grimes he didn’t know the man who broke into his home. Pelosi tells Grimes that the man, who is heard on the call saying his name is David, was looking for Nancy.

Pelosi tells the operator, ‘I’ve got a problem’ and adds: ‘There is a gentleman here waiting for my wife to come back.’ He says he doesn’t know the man and that his wife is Nancy Pelosi.

The tone and contents of the call also align with what we know of how Pelosi attempted to keep his attacker calm while alerting police to the situation. The response of the officers suggests police may not have discerned the threat.

Former U.S. Speaker of the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks to reporters inside the U.S. Capitol Building about her husband Paul Pelosi’s recovery on January 27, 2023 in Washington, DC

Another disproven suggestion was that the window where DePape gained entry to the house may have been smashed from the inside. 

Aerial footage of the scene in the aftermath of the incident showed glass scattered outside the downstairs window, which some online theories suggested was evidence it was broken from inside. 

But further footage released today also captures the moment DePape smashed the window using a hammer and forced it with his shoulder.

The footage from US Capitol Police cameras reveals the moment DePape appeared to sneak around the Pelosi property before smashing his way in.

The police footage first shows the suspect slowly approaching the home, with hands on hips. Then, after examining the home, he walks away – returning with a large bag in one hand and wearing a backpack.

He eventually puts on gloves, and grabs the hammer from his bag, which he can be seen slamming into the home, before climbing through the window frame. 

A screenshot of Capitol Police security footage shows David DePape outside the Pelosi home

Fuel was also added to the theories about the incident after NBC pulled a report about the attack from one of its leading journalists, who was also suspended. Some commentators pounced on the fiasco as evidence of a cover-up.

The NBC News report by Emmy Award-winning journalist Miguel Almaguer (pictured) was pulled just hours after it aired

The report by Emmy Award-winning journalist Miguel Almaguer claimed the Pelosi ‘walked several feet back’ away from police and towards DePape after the door was opened.

Almaguer cited sources who said it was ‘unclear’ whether Pelosi was injured or ‘what his mental state was’. The report said it was unclear why Pelosi didn’t tell the officers he was ‘in distress’.

NBC suspended Almaguer, who has since returned to work, and said the piece ‘did not meet NBC News reporting standards’. The network later said ‘the main source for the information was unreliable regarding the question of the circumstances that the police encountered when they arrived at the house, specifically what the police saw and how far the attacker was from the door’.

The body cam footage reveals the claim Pelosi stepped away from the police officers was wrong.