The man accused of breaking into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s house and attacking her husband with a hammer could be deported from the U.S. after he is released from custody, the Department of Homeland Security said Thursday.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, lodged an “immigration detainer” on 42-year-old Canadian national David DePape, DHS told CNBC in a statement.
The detainer requests that the San Francisco County Jail notify ICE before DePape is done serving time so that the immigration officers can take custody of him. ICE places immigration detainers on arrested individuals who it believes it can deport under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Records show DePape entered the U.S. through the San Ysidro point of entry on the southern border in 2008 as a temporary visitor, classified as a B-2, officials said.
Canadian visitors who enter the U.S. for business or pleasure are generally only admitted for six months, officials said.
DePape, in his first court appearance Tuesday, pleaded not guilty to numerous charges including attempted murder. He is currently being held without bail, with his next hearing set for Friday, his public defender said.
The Justice Department has also charged DePape with two federal crimes: attempted kidnapping of a federal official and assaulting an immediate family member of a United States official with the intent to retaliate against the official, according to his criminal complaint.
Federal charging documents allege that DePape broke into the Pelosis’ San Francisco residence early last Friday, confronting 82-year-old Paul Pelosi in his bedroom and stating “he was looking for Nancy.”
The Democratic House speaker was in Washington, D.C., at the time. Paul Pelosi managed to call 9-1-1, and when officers arrived, DePape struck him in the head with the hammer, authorities said.
DePape himself later told police he saw the House speaker as the “‘leader of the pack’ of lies told by the Democratic Party,” a federal affidavit said. He said he wanted to hold her hostage and talk to her, and if she lied he would break her kneecaps, the document said.
DePape arrived at the San Francisco home toting zip ties, tape, rope and at least one hammer, according to the affidavit.
In a Tuesday night court filing, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said DePape told police he was on a “suicide mission” and had plans to target other California and federal politicians.
Paul Pelosi is recovering in the hospital after undergoing surgery to repair a skull fracture.
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