'Everybody had alarms': Paul Pelosi's neighbor questions how David DePape got into home
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: Nancy Pelosi's former neighbor Marjorie Campbell has raised questions on why a violent crime at the Pelosis' home that shook the community reportedly triggered no alarms. The attacker, David DePape, is accused of breaking into the couple’s San Francisco home by smashing a back patio door on Friday, October 28, and attacking 82-year-old Paul Pelosi with a hammer.
Security experts have now condemned the fact that the suspect was able to break into the house with such ease. Campbell, too, was shocked to hear that Paul had to call 911 to save himself. The suspect broke into the house and yelled, "Where's Nancy?" and then allegedly tried to tie Paul up, saying they were going to wait “until Nancy got home.” Paul managed to save himself by calling 911 from the bathroom.
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What is Marjorie Campbell saying?
"There were black cars outside that house, particularly up on Normandie Terrace, all of the time," the 66-year-old told the Daily Mail. Campbell lived opposite the Pelosis for a decade. "I don't distinguish between her being there and not being there. There were always multiple cars."
"Everybody in the neighborhood had alarms on our windows," Campbell said. "So if glass smashed, an alarm went off. We all had alarms that had chimed if the door opened or closed."
Campbell now lives in Utah. She recalled what kind of private security they previously had and how police responded to everything almost instantly. "My daughter came home from a Christmas dance one year. It had got through the entire event that she was having a party. So we had cars descend on that block. We had cars just coming from both directions and parking and lining up at the back gate. Within 10 minutes, there were police everywhere," she recalled.
She reportedly said when protesters from women's antiwar group Code Pink camped outside Pelosi's residence, "that whole situation was being watched like a hawk." "It didn't take too long before the curb that runs down Broadway right in front of her house was painted red. The protesters were not allowed to protest where the curb was red. So you know that they [Pelosi's security] were all over that," she said.
Campbell said there were times when residents' electrical equipment would malfunction from alleged jamming to prevent spying on the speaker. "We had a computer in our kitchen that just didn't work on the internet very well. And I was told that because of the level of monitoring equipment at that residence," she said. "There was monitoring equipment to make sure that residents couldn't be spied on remotely from any place in the neighborhood, which involved something that interfered with our computer."
Campbell recalled a day when she was eating with her family at a restaurant one night when bodyguards reportedly took the place. This entire security detail came in because the Pelosis wanted to eat dinner there. "There were three or four black cars outside, a huge detail," she said. "When she was there, there certainly was a huge presence. And my impression was that the house was constantly monitored."
What are other security experts saying?
Another security expert left perplexed by the crime is Gavin DeBecker, who reportedly ran Jeff Bezos' security. In Pelosi's case, however, federal protection applied to Nancy, who was out of town at the time of the attack. "There is absolutely no security assigned to the Pelosi house. There is security provided by the US Capitol Police for the Speaker of the House personally, with her when she travels or appears publicly, but no security is provided for spouses or family of members of Congress. So, there was no security to get around," DeBecker said. "I don't know if a security system was on or not, but it appears not."
DeBecker said the Pelosis' taxpayer-paid protection could now be beefed up. "I think it is likely that Paul Pelosi will receive some official protection for a time," he said. "They also have the ability to hire security on their own, by which I mean they have the financial ability."
According to former CIA agent Tony Schiena, the break-in was an "obvious security failure for the family of a high profile politician to be so vulnerable and exposed." He blasted the "unacceptable security planning" including "poor physical security on premises as well as procedures in case of a threat or attack' and a 'lack of security technology, i.e. cameras and infrared motion detectors," as per Daily Mail.
"There was a recent alert by NYPD that politicians were likely to be targeted, and yet nothing was done to secure her house, even though she was not there," he further said. "There's a general failure to adapt to the new norm: right wing terrorism in the US. I feel we are going to experience the emergence of more vigilance. Reactive management will include more protection for congressional leadership and their families. The key is to assess the situation and provide protection to the family members as well."
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins' office charged DePape with attempted murder, residential burglary, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, false imprisonment of an elder, and threats to a public official and their family. He faces 13 years to life behind bars if convicted, according to the district attorney. The state indictment was announced just hours after charges of assault and attempted kidnapping was issued against DePape. Both the charges carry possible sentences of decades behind bars.