State prosecutors said the attack appeared to be politically motivated.[10] On October 31, DePape was charged with two federal crimes: assault of an immediate family member of a federal official with the intent to retaliate against the official on account of the performance of official duties; and attempted kidnapping of a federal official on account of the performance of official duties.[10][11] He was also charged with six state felonies.[12]
Incident
The San Francisco home of Paul and Nancy Pelosi
During a police interview, David DePape said that he had managed to gain access to the Pelosi residence by breaking through glass-paneled doors at the rear of the house.[13][14] Subsequent police body-worn camera footage showed the broken glass on the ground.[15] At the time of the break-in, Paul Pelosi was sleeping in the third-floor bedroom of the home.[13][14] The intruder woke Pelosi and demanded to speak to "Nancy"; when Pelosi said that she was not home, the intruder said he would wait.[10][13][14]
Seeking help from police, Pelosi told the intruder that he needed to use the bathroom, then he made a secret 9-1-1 call on his cellphone at 2:23 a.m. PDT.[15][13][16] He left the line open, saying, "What's going on? Why are you here? What are you going to do to me?" These statements prompted the 9-1-1 dispatcher to send police to Pelosi's aid for a wellness check,[17][18][19][20][21] which was credited with saving his life.[18][21]
San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) officers quickly arrived at the Pelosi residence.[22] knocking on the door at 2:31 a.m. PDT.[15][13] Pelosi ran to the door and opened it.[13] From outside the house,[23] police observed DePape and Pelosi struggling for a hammer at the entryway.[24][25] After police ordered the two men to drop the weapon, DePape took the hammer and "violently attacked" the 82-year-old Pelosi with a single blow; the assailant was reportedly shouting, "Where is Nancy, where is Nancy?"[6][24][12] Police then tackled and arrested DePape.[24] After arresting the intruder, police discovered multiple zip ties, duct tape,[26][27] white rope, a second hammer, and rubber and cloth gloves in his backpack.[11][12] According to investigators, DePape had a list of additional potential targets.[27]
Following the attack, Pelosi underwent surgery to treat a skull fracture at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital.[28] He also received treatment for serious injuries to his hands and right arm.[26] As of October 31, Pelosi was still in intensive care recovering.[12] In addition, DePape suffered some minor injuries and was taken to a San Francisco hospital.[22][29]
Nancy Pelosi was in Washington, D.C., at the time of the attack.[24][30] She rushed back to San Francisco on a government airplane, and a motorcade escorted her to the hospital where her husband was being treated.[31] The following day, she wrote a "Dear Colleague" letter to members of the House of Representatives, saying that her extended family was "heartbroken and traumatized by the life-threatening attack" and thanking law enforcement, emergency services, and hospital staff for aiding her husband.[32][33]
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said that the attack appeared to be politically motivated, based on statements and comments made by DePape on the night of the attack.[14]
After being Mirandized, DePape gave an interview to San Francisco Police Department officers in which he said he planned to hold Nancy Pelosi hostage and that he saw her as the "leader of the pack" of lies told by the Democratic Party. He said that he considered himself to be fighting "tyranny" and likened himself to the American founding fathers.[13] DePape told the police that he planned to kidnap and interrogate Nancy, and would break her kneecaps if she "lied" to him, believing that by doing so, "she would then have to be wheeled into Congress" as a "warning" to other members of Congress.[12][36]
The day after the attack, investigators searched a garage in Richmond, California, where DePape had lived for the previous two years, pursuant to a federal search warrant. Investigators reported seizing "two hammers, a sword, and a pair of rubber and cloth gloves" from the property.[13]
Before the attack, DePape was not known to the U.S. Capitol Police and was not on any federal database tracking threats.[37]
Accused
David Wayne DePape, age 42, was arrested at the scene of the attack.[6][11][34]
Life prior to the attack
DePape grew up in British Columbia, Canada; he lived in Powell River before finishing high school in Armstrong.[38][39] Shortly after high school, he moved to Hawaii, where he met Gypsy Taub and moved with her to California.[39] DePape became estranged from his family around that time and may have been abusive.[40][41] While their relationship did not last long, Taub became perhaps the most prominent face of the 2013 San Francisco public nudity movement; DePape was part of Taub's circle.[42]Scott Wiener (who was a city supervisor in 2013, and later a state senator) recalled that Taub and DePape were part of a subgroup of "extremely aggressive and creepy" public nudists who "were in a different category" than the regular nudist activists.[42][43] DePape was later a groomsman in Taub's wedding to Jamyz Smith and lived for some years with Taub, Smith, and her three children.[44][45]
One acquaintance said she had cut off contact with DePage in 2012, after he dispayed megalomaniac behavior and sent her multiple emails likening himself to Jesus Christ.[38] Taub described DePape returning home after about a year, identifying with Jesus, and exhibiting extreme paranoia; she said DePape "has been mentally ill for a long time".[46] Afterwards, DePape lived in a storage unit in Berkeley, where one neighbor said he was a user of hard drugs. DePape visited Taub occasionally throughout those years. At the time of the attack, he was a resident of Richmond, California.[38][47] Taub was interviewed after the attack and said she did not think DePape became a Trump supporter.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page). In multiple posts on social media platforms and at least two blogs, a user with DePape's name and address espoused far-right views, promoting QAnon, Pizzagate, and other far-right conspiracy theories and sharing far-right Internet memes. At the same time, voting records showed that he had listed himself as a member of the Green Party years earlier.[9][42][48] He credited Gamergate, Jordan Peterson, and James A. Lindsay for his interest in right-wing politics.[44] Law enforcement sources have been "increasingly confident" that these social media posts "are [indeed] from the suspect".[49] DePape's daughter confirmed that DePape was the author of the blog, and that he at times had shared links with her and posting text-message conversations with her.[15]
On October 31, federal prosecutors charged DePape with "attempted kidnapping of a federal official in the performance of official duties" and "assaulting an immediate member of a federal official's family and inflicting a serious injury with a dangerous weapon".[11][12] On the same day, the San Francisco District Attorney's Office filed state charges against DePape, including six felonies: attempted murder, residential burglary, elder abuse, assault with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment of an elder, and threatening the family member of public official.[12]
President Joe Biden expressed support for the Pelosi family,[6] and said there was too much political violence, hatred, and vitriol.[54] Biden compared the attack on Paul Pelosi with the January 6 Capitol attack, and stated that Republicans talking about "stolen elections" and "Covid being a hoax" may "affect people who may not be so well balanced".[54] Vice President Kamala Harris blamed the current political climate for inspiring the attack.[54] California Governor Gavin Newsom said the "heinous attack" on Pelosi was "yet another example of the dangerous consequences of the divisive and hateful rhetoric that is putting lives at risk and undermining our very democracy".[34][55] San Francisco Mayor London Breed called the attack a "horrific and scary incident", offering her support to Pelosi's family and thanking the first responders.[56] The attack and broader concerns of violence and threats prompted calls from members of Congress to increase security.[57]
Elected officials across the political spectrum condemned the attack. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said, "What happened to Paul Pelosi was a dastardly act." Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell wrote that he was "horrified and disgusted by the reports that Paul Pelosi was assaulted in his and Speaker Pelosi's home last night". House minority whipSteve Scalise, who was seriously wounded in the 2017 congressional baseball shooting, called the attack "horrific" and said "violence has no place in this country". Outgoing Representative Liz Cheney wrote, "Reports about the brutal attack on Paul Pelosi are horrific and deeply troubling." The attack was condemned by, among others, Senators Bernie Sanders (independent of Vermont) and Ted Cruz (Republican of Texas).[58]
Republican officials sent mixed messages on the attack, prompting criticism from Democrats.[59] Many Republicans denounced the attack,[60][61] but others tolerated it, and in a few cases welcomed it.[61] Some Republicans who condemned the attack issued statements criticizing "both sides" for political violence.[60] Three days after the attack, former president Donald Trump said, "With Paul Pelosi, that's a terrible thing".[62] Top Republican officials, such as Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel and National Republican Congressional Committee Chair Tom Emmer, rejected assertions that inflammatory Republican rhetoric, including vilification and hatred of Nancy Pelosi, contributed to an atmosphere that risked violence.[63] A week before the attack, Emmer posted a video of himself firing a gun with the hashtag #FirePelosi; after the attack, he deflected a question asking if he should have used a gun in the ad.[63]Glenn Youngkin, the Republican governor of Virginia, said, "There's no room for violence anywhere, but we're gonna send Nancy Pelosi back to be with him in California", a remark that attracted controversy.[59][64][65] Republican Kentucky Senator Rand Paul tweeted, "No one deserves to be assaulted. Unlike Nancy Pelosi's daughter who celebrated my assault, I condemn this attack and wish Mr. Pelosi a speedy recovery", referring to Christine Pelosi tweeting in 2020 "Rand Paul's neighbor was right" in the wake of Paul's neighbor assaulting him in 2017.[59][66]
In the aftermath of the attack, Elon Musk and prominent right-wing figures shared misinformation and disinformation about the attack.[67][68] Within days of the attack, the baseless claims had spread among the Republican mainstream; with The New York Times noting that the claims "appeared intended to deflect attention from Mr. DePape's views."[69] Musk promoted the baseless conspiracy theory that Paul Pelosi was drunk and fighting with a male prostitute,[67][70][71] Musk's promotion of the conspiracy theory occurred days after his acquisition of Twitter; he deleted his tweet hours later, after it had already amassed 24,000 retweets and 86,000 likes.[67] Right-wing figures who spread misinformation about the attack included Roger Stone, Dinesh D'Souza, and Steve Bannon, all of whom baselessly implied that the attack could be a "false flag".[67] as well as Republican congressman Clay Higgins, Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, Donald Trump Jr., and David Clarke Jr., all of whom pushed other unfounded conspiracy theories about the attack.[69][68]Conservative talk radio host Charlie Kirk called for an "amazing patriot" from among his audience to "be a midterm hero" by deciding to "bail out" DePape.[72][73]The Washington Post wrote that "the narrative that gained the most traction" is that the attack was linked to "a rise in crime in San Francisco and, by extension, in many cities with Democratic leaders".[74]
^ ab"Republicans Continue to Spread Baseless Claims About Pelosi Attack". New York Times. October 31, 2022. While many Republican officials have denounced the violence, others have at the very least tolerated, and in some cases cheered, a violent assault on the spouse of a political rival.((cite news)): Cite uses deprecated parameter |authors= (help)
.jpg)
