News/Commentary

San Fran judge rules Paul Pelosi police bodycam footage must be made public

January 26, 2023 | | Print Article

The American people may finally get some answers in the mysterious story of the violent hammer attack on Paul Pelosi now that a San Francisco judge has sided with multiple media organizations by ordering that the police bodycam footage of the bizarre incident must be made public.

On Wednesday, Judge Stephen Murphy granted a motion filed by a coalition of news outlets including the Associated Press, NBC News and The New York Times seeking access to evidence from the incident including the bodycam video when officers arrived at the Pacific Heights mansion shared by the 82-year-old stock-picking wizard and his wife, then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

The October 28, 2022 confrontation between Pelosi and 42-year-old David DePape was one of last year’s great mysteries with a constantly shifting storyline, seeming contradictions and immediate political weaponization against Republicans in the weeks before the midterm elections before it largely disappeared from the news cycle after the votes had been counted.

Some clarity about the incident may have been divulged by Miguel Almaguer of NBC News whose bombshell report detailed the moment that police arrived at the residence and were greeted at the door by the victim who did not demonstrate behavior consistent with an emergency and walked back into the foyer toward DePape who would then strike Pelosi with the hammer, sending him to the hospital with a fractured skull.

Not only was Almaguer’s report nearly immediately scrubbed, but the reporter would later be yanked off the air.

The news organizations argued last month that the footage should have been made accessible to the public with it already being submitted in open court and admitted as evidence in the preliminary hearing against DePape.

DePape’s attorney, Adam Lipson argued that releasing the recordings “risked propagating more conspiracy theories and false media reporting about the high-profile case. Unfounded theories about the attack — largely fueled by social media and conservative news outlets — arose in the wake of the incident. Lipson said he feared potential manipulations of the digital recordings could damage DePape’s ability to get a fair trial,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

“The precedent… that they are asking you to set here is out of a speculative fear of manipulation. Think about what a horrible precedent that would be,” said attorney Thomas Burke, representing the news organizations.

Judge Murphy ultimately ruled that “concerns about potential tampering with the recordings interfering with DePape’s right to a fair trial were not compelling enough to withhold the recordings,” the outlet reported.

Twitter users speculated what might be seen in the footage.

Nancy Pelosi was badly rattled by the incident which may have contributed to her decision to retire as the official Democrat House leader after the new GOP majority took over and according to her daughter, summoned Catholic priests to the couple’s home to perform an exorcism to cleanse it of evil spirits.

Chris Donaldson
Latest posts by Chris Donaldson (see all)

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

Latest Articles