The man accused of breaking into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s home, beating her husband and seeking to kidnap her told police he was on a “suicide mission” and had plans to target other California and federal politicians, according to a Tuesday court filing. David DePape was ordered held without bail during his arraignment Tuesday in San Francisco Superior Court. His public defender entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf.

It was the first public appearance since the early Friday attack for DePape, a fringe activist drawn to conspiracy theories. In the court filing, prosecutors detailed the attack in stark terms as part of their bid to keep DePape behind bars. Paul Pelosi was knocked unconscious by the hammer attack and woke up in a pool of his own blood, the filing said.

DePape’s intent “could not have been clearer,” Jenkins wrote in the filing. “He forced his way into the Pelosi home intending to take the person third in line to the presidency of the United States hostage and to seriously harm her. Thwarted by Speaker Pelosi’s absence, Defendant continued on his quest and would not be stopped, culminating on the near fatal attack on Mr. Pelosi.” Without being questioned, DePape told officers and medics at the scene that he was sick of the “lies coming out of Washington D.C.,” the filing said. “I didn’t really want to hurt him, but you know this was a suicide mission.

I’m not going to stand here and do nothing even if it cost me my life.” DePape allegedly said he had other targets, including a local professor as well as several prominent state and federal politicians –- and members of their families. The filing did not nmae any potential targets. “This case demands detention,” Jenkins wrote. “Nothing less.” Wearing orange jail clothing, DePape only spoke to tell Judge Diane Northway how to pronounce his last name (dih-PAP’). The 42-year-old defendant, whose shoulder was dislocated during his arrest, is scheduled to return to court Friday. After the hearing, DePape’s public defender Adam Lipson said he looks forward to providing DePape with a “vigorous legal defense.” “We’re going to be doing a comprehensive investigation of what happened.

We’re going to be looking into Mr. DePape’s mental state, and I’m not going to talk any further about that until I have more information,” said Lipson, who noted that a no-bail detainer in state court is a moot point because DePape also has been placed on a federal hold in the case. He later said he was pleased that Paul Pelosi was improving and urged the public not to pass judgment on what he called “a complicated situation.” The attack on 82-year-old Paul Pelosi sent shockwaves through the political world just days before the hotly contested midterm elections.

Threats against lawmakers and elections officials have been at all-time highs in this first nationwide election since the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol, and authorities have issued warnings about rising extremism in the U.S. DePape faces state charges of attempted murder, burglary and elder abuse. He also faces federal charges including attempted kidnapping of a U.S. official. Those charges are outlined in an affidavit detailing the assault, which was largely captured on police body camera imagery after authorities responded to a 911 call from the Pelosis’ Pacific Heights home.

In Washington, U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger provided a sobering update Tuesday of security protocols for members of Congress. Manger said that although many improvements have been made since the Capitol attack, including the hiring of nearly 280 officers by the end of this year, “there is still a lot of work to do.” “We believe today’s political climate calls for more resources to provide additional layers of physical security for members of Congress,” he said Manger said the attack on Pelosi’s husband was “an alarming reminder of the dangerous threats elected officials and public figures face during today’s contentious political climate.”

Speaker Pelosi was in Washington at the time and under the protection of her security detail, which does not extend to family members. She swiftly returned to San Francisco, where her husband was hospitalized and underwent surgery for a skull fracture and other injuries. District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said the assault on Paul Pelosi appeared to be premeditated, and she appealed to Americans to “tone down” the political rhetoric. During a news conference after the arraignment, Jenkins said her office won’t release the 911 recording or police bodycam footage unless they’re presented at trial.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — A top ally of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is demanding fresh answers from the U.S. Capitol Police about security failures that led to a brutal attack on Pelosi’s husband last week, questioning the embattled agency about whether it can keep lawmakers and their families safe.

House Administration Committee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., sent a four-page letter to Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger on Wednesday, saying the attack on Paul Pelosi raises “significant questions about security protections for Members of Congress.” The man who beat Paul Pelosi with a hammer was looking for Nancy Pelosi and later told police that he wanted to hold her hostage and break her kneecaps to make a political point, authorities said.

The searing letter lays out a series of questions for Manger and orders the agency to lay out its plans for protecting lawmakers and their families, including how they are interacting with other law enforcement agencies, how officers are trained for such situations and whether there are special plans in place to protect lawmakers in the presidential line of succession, as Pelosi is.

The letter from Lofgren, whose panel oversees the Capitol Police, comes as the beleaguered agency is still trying to rebuild after the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, when hundreds of former President Donald Trump’s supporters overwhelmed officers and more than 100 were injured. Threats to lawmakers have skyrocketed in recent years — almost 10,000 threats were investigated last year — and the agency has struggled to protect lawmakers, their families and the Capitol campus with limited resources.

The Capitol Police issued a statement Wednesday saying they will “fast track” the work they had already been doing to protect members outside of Washington.

“Our brave men and women are working around the clock to meet this urgent mission during this divisive time,” the USCP statement said. “In the meantime, a significant change that will have an immediate impact will be for people across our country to lower the temperature on political rhetoric before it’s too late.”

The USCP said it has access to roughly 1,800 cameras, including one on Pelosi’s house that was not being monitored during the attack on Paul Pelosi because the speaker was not there. The Capitol Police video is expected to show an extended struggle by the intruder, David DePape, to break into the Pelosi house as he first worked to break a window in the rear of the home and moved around to break glass in doors on the side of the house, according to a person briefed on the situation who requested anonymity to discuss it.

The San Francisco Police Department often posted a patrol car at the Pelosi house, particularly after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the Capitol, but there was no police car present at the home during the time of the attack, the person said. Among many other questions in the letter, Lofgren asked if the agency had any special agreements with San Francisco police to have security stationed outside of Pelosi’s house.

In a speech Wednesday night near the Capitol, Biden bemoaned “the dangerous rise of political violence and voter intimidation over the past two years.”

“There’s an alarming rise in the number of people in this country condoning political violence or simply remaining silent,” Biden added. “In our bones we know democracy is at risk, but we also know this: It’s in our power to preserve our democracy.”

DePape’s state case will continue Friday, though the defendant will not appear in the courtroom. His public defender entered a not guilty plea on his behalf Tuesday and vowed to pursue a “vigorous legal defense.” An arraignment on federal charges has not been scheduled.

Paul Pelosi remained in the Intensive Care Unit in a San Francisco hospital, and was receiving regular visits from Nancy Pelosi and other family members.

In a federal complaint released earlier this week, officials said DePape, 42, was carrying zip ties, tape and a rope in a backpack. He went upstairs where 82-year-old Paul Pelosi was sleeping, and demanded to talk to “Nancy.”

In the letter to the Capitol Police, Lofgren noted that the agency has previously reported that Pelosi receives the most threats of any member of Congress. She asked whether USCP has established protocols for the personal residences of lawmakers who are in the presidential line of succession — Pelosi as speaker and Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont as president pro tempore of the Senate. She also asked if the department has coordinated with the Secret Service to protect those lawmakers, in particular, and whether there is a plan to protect their families.

Members of Congress from both parties have expressed concerns about the increased threats in recent years and in the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection, when Trump’s supporters broke into the Capitol and sent lawmakers running for their lives. People have showed up at their houses, threatened them online and even shot at them.

Five years ago, a left-wing activist opened fire on Republicans as they practiced for an annual charity baseball game, and Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana was critically wounded.

In 2011, then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., was shot in the head at an event outside a Tucson grocery store.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who had a man show up at her house in Seattle over the summer carrying a pistol, is one member who has been aggressively pushing for more resources. This summer, she convened a call with other House Democrats to crowdsource how to stay safe while in their districts and out campaigning.

“It makes no sense for members of Congress to be doing that,” Jayapal said about the unofficial conversations with her colleagues.

“We fear for ourselves, we fear for our staff, and we really fear for our loved ones,” Jayapal said.

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Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro and Farnoush Amiri in Washington and Stefanie Dazio in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

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