Man who attacked Paul Pelosi with hammer apologizes at re-sentencing hearing

The man convicted of attacking the husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) with a hammer apologized to his victim during a re-sentencing hearing Tuesday.

“I’m sorry for what I did, especially what I did to Paul Pelosi,” David DePape said outside the court in San Francisco. “I should never have hurt him.”

A year after his attack in October 2022, DePape was found guilty of assaulting a close family member of a federal official and attempted kidnapping of a federal official.

On the night he broke into the Pelosi’s San Francisco home, DePape said he planned to kidnap and violently interrogate Nancy Pelosi while armed with a hammer and zip ties. Instead, he confronted Paul Pelosi, then 82, and was caught on video striking the venture capitalist with his hammer when officers arrived on the scene.

DePape, who said he was influenced by far-right conspiracy theories when carrying out the kidnapping attempt, was sentenced to 30 years in prison earlier this month. But U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley forgot to give DePape a chance to address the court before the sentencing, leading to this week’s hearing.

The judge apologized on Tuesday to DePape as well as the victims and attorneys in the case for the oversight.

“I want to apologize for having you here this morning,” she said, according to the Los Angeles Times. “The responsibility is entirely mine.”

DePape was sentenced to 30 years in prison, with credit for approximately 19 months of time already spent in custody.