David DePape, the suspect in the hammer attack on Paul Pelosi, was in the US illegally and may face deportation to Canada, authorities announced.
“US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged an immigration detainer on Canadian national David DePape with San Francisco County Jail, Nov 1, following his Oct 28 arrest,” the Department of Homeland Security said on Wednesday night.
Federal records show that the Canadian citizen entered the US in early March at the port of entry at San Ysidro on the border between California and Mexico, CNN reported.
In general, Canadians don’t need a visa to enter the US and can stay for as long as six months. But Mr DePape had allegedly stayed for nearly eight months up until the 28 October attack on Mr Pelosi.
The detainer sent regarding Mr DePape will in all likelihood not affect the case against him as deportations usually take place following a criminal case’s resolution. The US would in most cases seek deportation following a conviction and prison sentence, CNN noted.
ICE sends immigration “detainers” to law enforcement agencies on all levels, including federal, state, and local. The intent is to inform officials that ICE is looking to detain someone before they’re let go.
Mr DePape has been charged with multiple crimes, including assault, attempted murder, and attempted kidnapping after he broke into the home of Mr Pelosi and Speaker Nancy Pelosi last week in San Francisco, California.
According to the US attorney’s office for the Northern District of California, one of the charges is “attempted kidnapping of a US official,” which concerns the speaker. Mr Pelosi told police that he planned to hold her hostage, an FBI affidavit unsealed on Monday said.
On Tuesday, Mr DePape pleaded not guilty to all state charges. He hasn’t yet entered a plea regarding the charges on the federal level.
The attack took place early on 28 October. He entered the residence at some point after 2am, according to the criminal complaint.
He repeatedly shouted “where is Nancy?” when he confronted Mr Pelosi, who was alone in bed at the time of the break-in.
“When Pelosi told him that Nancy was not there, DePape stated that he would sit and wait,” the complaint said. “Pelosi stated that his wife would not be home for several days and then DePape reiterated that he would wait.”
“DePape stated he wanted to tie Pelosi up so that DePape could go to sleep as he was tired from having had to carry a backpack to the Pelosi residence,” at which point he began “taking out twist ties from his pocket so that he could restrain Pelosi. Pelosi moved towards another part of the house, but DePape stopped him and together they went back into the bedroom”.
It was at this point that Mr Pelosi entered the bathroom and called 911.
“DePape remembered thinking that there was no way the police were going to forget about the phone call,” the complaint states. “DePape explained that he did not leave after Pelosi’s call to 911 because, much like the American founding fathers with the British, he was fighting against tyranny without the option of surrender.”
According to the complaint, Mr DePape said they went downstairs.
“The police arrived and knocked on the door, and Pelosi ran over and opened it. Pelosi grabbed onto DePape’s hammer, which was in Depape’s hand,” the legal filing states. “At this point in the interview, DePape repeated that DePape did not plan to surrender and that he would go ‘through’ Pelosi.”
Officers were dispatched to the family’s home at 2.27am, police said previously.
When they arrived on the scene, Mr DePape and Mr Pelosi were both seen struggling for control of a hammer.
The suspect pulled the hammer from Mr Pelosi and “violently assaulted him with it,” San Francisco Police Chief William Scott said.
Chief Scott added that officers “immediately tackled” Mr DePape and took him into custody.
