According to federal enforcement, Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was beaten with a hammer at the couple’s home in San Francisco on Friday morning. The Democratic speaker’s office issued a statement saying that despite being hospitalized, he is expected to make a full recovery.
The police have detained a suspect, and they are looking into his possible motivations. According to two sources with knowledge of the incident’s early facts, the attacker gained entry to the Paul Pelosi home through the backyard. Beyond that, however, very little is known.
David DePape, 42, has been named as a suspect in the savage home invasion attack on Paul Pelosi early on Friday morning. Police said they were called to the Pelosis’ home at 3 a.m. and found a man and Mr. Pelosi, husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, armed with a hammer. During the attack, the suspect allegedly took the hammer out of Paul Pelosi’s hands and hit him repeatedly with it. David DePape was arrested on charges of attempted murder, aggravated assault, and exploitation of a vulnerable adult.
Two witnesses said he tried to tie up Paul Pelosi until his wife, Nancy, returned home. The perpetrator told the police that he was “waiting for Nancy” when they arrived at the apartment where the attack took place.
What We Know About David Depape
David DePape was selected to serve as the best man for a nudist wedding that took place in 2013 at San Francisco City Hall. A “father figure” to the famous nudist activist Gypsy Taub, her three children, and her boyfriend Jaymz Smith, he resided in a Berkeley three-bedroom Victorian flat before the wedding she had intended to arrange on the steps of City Hall. DePape, a hemp jewelry artisan and the couple’s roommate, was chosen to be the best man. Years ago, when he registered to vote, he identified himself as a Green Party supporter.
Representative Scott Wiener (D–San Francisco) mentioned David DePape as one of the nudist activists who demonstrated in 2011 and 2012. While Scott Wiener, a municipal supervisor at the time who represented the Castro and Noe Valley neighborhoods, successfully advocated for a ban on public nudity, many locals did their best to provoke him.
David DePape wrote rants about “the ruling elite” on his site, along with right-wing conspiracy theories and obscenities. David DePape stated, “The elites/ruling class never censor themselves,” in a WordPress site he presumably kept up and updated until August 28, 2022. David DePape is listed as the author of a site with the URL – godisloving.wordpress.com and the banner “Welcome to Big Brothers Censorship Hell.” The blog is full of conspiracy theories accusing powerful people, such as government officials, tech businesses, and media outlets, of censorship. Several of the headlines in this collection reference conservative views or conspiracy theories popular among far-right groups. On August 25, 2022, David DePape made several posts with titles like “Communist Voodoo science” and “Feminist gets owned.” There is no content or links in the body of an August 25, 2022, post headlined “The woke are Racists with a guilty conscience.” On August 24, 2022, another post simply labeled “Q” featured photos of convicted sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein and referenced the far-right Q-Anon idea. The same day, a post was made with a meme that read, “Give us your children to indoctrinate into our satanic pedophile communist cult.” There are many hateful and offensive comments on the blog directed at immigrants, people of color, women, the LGBTQ community, and Muslims.
According to Ron DePape, David DePape is the stepson of Ron’s brother from a previous marriage, but Ron’s family has lost connection with David. “He refused contact with any family,” Ron DePape of Powell River, British Columbia, said in a phone conversation on Friday. Ron DePape claims that David DePape departed Powell River at a young age to join his then-girlfriend in the United States. “He just kind of disappeared,” as Ron DePape put it.
On the website frenlyfrens.com, an individual who called themselves David DePape was the author of a series of posts that were both irrational and prejudiced. In a post that was made public a few days before the attack with the hammer, he stated that the conflict in Ukraine was a plot to help Jewish people.
