The man who attacked Paul Pelosi – the husband of former American Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi – in October 2022, a few days before the American midterm elections, was found guilty by a San Francisco court on Thursday, November 16 found (California).
The jury convicted David DePape of that violent hammer attack – in which he fractured the skull of then-82-year-old Paul Pelosi – and also found him guilty of attempting to kidnap Nancy Pelosi. His sentence, which could be up to life in prison, must be handed down at a later date.
As President of the United States House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi was the third person in the American state and a regular target of conspiracy theories fueled by the far right.
Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers The attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband raises renewed concerns about the safety of the political class in the United States
The trial showed how David DePape, a Canadian carpenter in an illegal and rather lonely situation, immersed himself in a world poisoned by disinformation before taking action. He “intentionally targeted Nancy Pelosi because of her work and her role in our political system,” said prosecutor Helen Gilbert.
The first step in a larger plan
During the trial, the 43-year-old recounted, sometimes in tears, how he became an enthusiastic listener of right-wing extremist podcasts. On social networks, he particularly shared publications claiming that American elites were corrupt and practicing pedophilia or that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump.
Paul Pelosi “was never my target and I’m sorry he was hurt,” assured David DePape. He said he attacked him when he realized his “plan had essentially failed.” By breaking into the Pelosi couple’s home in San Francisco with rope, gloves and duct tape, he initially wanted to attack the parliamentarian who was in Washington that day. He admitted to investigators that he planned to “break her kneecaps” if she didn’t admit to the Democratic camp’s “lies.”
But the seizure of Nancy Pelosi was only the first step in a larger plan, the defendant admitted in court. His nebulous plan included other targets, including California’s Democratic governor Gavin Newsom, President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden and actor Tom Hanks.
Also read: Attack on Paul Pelosi: The suspect wanted to attack other politicians
His defense centered on a portrayal of a man consumed by what he saw as an anti-corruption crusade. A line that led David DePape to plead not guilty. Without denying the attack, his lawyers contended that he was driven primarily by his conspiratorial beliefs and that he did not specifically target Nancy Pelosi in her capacity as a federal official – a key factor, according to the prosecution, in both the attack and also to understand the act of planned kidnapping.
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“Mr. DePape did terrible things (…), he committed serious crimes that night,” admitted his lawyer Angela Chuang. “But he did not commit these two crimes,” she emphasized, based on Nancy Pelosi’s official position.
“So traumatic”
During David DePape’s intrusion, Paul Pelosi managed to alert the police, who intervened at the last minute. The attack was filmed by San Francisco officers’ body-worn cameras. Images that the octogenarian, who was in the hospital for almost a week and had to undergo surgery, does not want to see even more than a year after the events. “It was so traumatic. I did everything in my power not to go through this again,” he told jurors.
The affair occurred just days before the midterm elections and highlighted the severity of the impact of disinformation in the election campaign and the deep divisions in America. Despite the images, some members of the Republican Party mocked the attack or expressed some skepticism.
Read the editorial from Le Monde: The extreme right in the United States, a deadly poison of the mind
The boss of .
After this federal trial, David DePape now has to answer in California courts.