The man accused of breaking into former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco home, bludgeoning her husband with a hammer and seeking to kidnap her goes on trial Thursday.
Opening statements are scheduled in the federal trial of David DePape who prosecutors say assaulted then-82-year-old Paul Pelosi, sending shockwaves through the political world just days before last year’s midterm elections. The attack in the early hours of Oct. 28, 2022, also highlighted how conspiracy theories and misinformation that spread online can fuel political violence.
DePape pleaded not guilty to attempted kidnapping of a federal official and assault on the immediate family member of a federal official. Paul Pelosi is expected to testify next week.
DePape posted rants on a blog and an online forum about aliens, communists, religious minorities, and global elites. He questioned the results of the 2020 election and echoed the baseless, right-wing QAnon conspiracy theory that claims the U.S. government is run by a cabal of devil-worshipping pedophiles. The websites were taken down shortly after his arrest.
This was 100% politically motivated and let this be a canary of things to come, politicians make ambitious statements about how “these people need to be taken care of” and are not held accountable.
Hold them liable - the ammount of Pelosi rhetoric on fox news prior to this was intense and coordinated.
Lock him away forever. Make an example of these disgusting Alt-Right and QAnon creatures that don’t just repeat the lies but actually go out and attack someone because they hate their imagined enemy so much. They are a dangerous threat to lawful, civilized society…
Best I can do is 3 months in a minimum security prison.
I’ll be interested to hear what his defence is, considering a not guilty plea. Maybe insanity? You’d have to be a bit fucking insane to believe one quarter of the Qanon shit. Or stupid.
I will say that I don’t like Nancy Pelosi very much (insider trading and all) but violence is never ok. This guy needs a length sentence
I think he might have actually been in the Pelosi boudoir handing out a length sentence before this went down.
