A long “rehabilitation and healing” lies ahead of him, but the good news: Paul Pelosi can leave the hospital. Nancy Pelosi’s husband was attacked with a hammer. His attacker was apparently illegally in the United States.
The man who attacked Paul Pelosi in his home last week and seriously injured him with a hammer faces several years in prison. The federal judiciary charged the attacker on Monday with assault and attempted kidnapping. According to media reports, the native Canadian was illegally in the United States. After serving his potential sentence, he faces deportation, according to the Washington Post, citing the Department of Homeland Security.
The 42-year-old entered the United States legally in March 2008 as a “temporary visitor”. Canadians can generally stay in the United States for six months without a visa. The authorities have not yet announced when the man’s residence permit expired.
The husband of top US politician Nancy Pelosi has meanwhile been discharged from the hospital. According to a statement released on Thursday (local time), Nancy Pelosi’s husband remains in “medical care” on his way to a “long rehabilitation and healing” and is now “surrounded by his family”.
The attacker broke into the Pelosi couple’s home in San Francisco last Friday night. He was targeting Nancy Pelosi, who was in the US capital Washington at the time of the attack. The 42-year-old hit her husband Paul with a hammer when police officers arrived. He had to have surgery for a fractured skull and serious injuries to his right arm and hands.
The perpetrator had cable ties, rope and tape with him, the US Department of Justice said. According to investigators, after his arrest, the man said he had taken Nancy Pelosi hostage and wanted to talk to her. Should the Speaker of the US House of Representatives tell the “truth,” he would let her go; should she “lie”, which he assumes, he would smash her kneecaps.
Nancy Pelosi expressed her gratitude to emergency responders and hospital staff in the statement Thursday at the release of her husband. Her family is grateful for the “love, support and prayers from around the world,” she added.
Nancy Pelosi, whose constituency is in San Francisco, is one of the most powerful politicians in the United States. The 82-year-old has been Chair of the House of Representatives for the second time since 2019 – making her number three in the state after President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. In right-wing circles, she has been hostile to for a long time.
