Paul Pelosi, husband of Nancy Pelosi, in hospital after being attacked at home

Scott named the suspect as David DePape, 42, adding that any motive was still being determined. Charges are to be brought at the San Francisco county jail, including attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, burglary and other felonies.

According to the Associated Press, the attacker had specifically targeted the Pelosi family home. Video footage of the house showed glass shattered in a side entrance, indicating where the break-in may have occurred.

The speaker was not at home at the time of the attack, but was in Washington DC with security protection that accompanies her at all times as standard.

Her husband suffered blunt force trauma to the head and body in the attack. He was being treated in hospital for bruising, severe swelling and other injuries.

While the exact motivation for the attack was unclear on Friday morning, it raised fears about the safety of members of Congress and their families.

Concerns have been rising, particularly since the insurrection at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, by extremist supporters of Donald Trump intent on overturning his supposed loss to Joe Biden in the presidential election, about a new era of violent threats against US lawmakers and their families and staff, and their security.

In July, members of Congress were given $10,000 each to upgrade security at their homes in the face of rising threats. Some have pushed for even more protection, pointing to people turning up at their homes and an increasing amount of threatening communications.

Joe Biden called Nancy Pelosi about the incident on Friday morning.

Nancy Pelosi had just returned to Washington this week from a security conference in Europe and is due to make a keynote speech at an advocacy event on Saturday evening with vice-president, Kamala Harris.

A suspect, Daniel Mota Dos Reis, has been charged with third-degree burglary.

Guardian reporter Maya Yang and the Associated Press and contributed reporting