The man accused of breaking into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's home and assaulting her husband in a violent attack appeared to have far-reaching and at times contradictory political positions, espousing libertarian anti-establishment ideas and more recently posting ramblings associated with far-right extremism, multiple senior law enforcement officials familiar with the case told NBC News.
San Francisco police identified the suspect as David DePape. The 42-year-old was arrested at the couple's home and is facing charges of attempted murder, elder abuse and burglary.
Police say DePape, who was armed with a hammer, “violently assaulted” 82-year-old Paul Pelosi just before 2:30 a.m. Friday after breaking into the couple's home in search of the Democratic leader. He was arrested at Pelosi's home.
“Our officers observed Mr. Pelosi and the suspect both holding a hammer,” San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said at a Friday morning news conference. “The suspect pulled the hammer away from Mr. Pelosi and violently assaulted him with it. Our officers immediately tackled the suspect, disarmed him, took him into custody, requested emergency backup and rendered medical aid.”
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While investigators attempt to determine a motive for the attack, a picture of the suspect has begun to emerge.
The suspect grew up in Powell River, British Columbia, before moving to San Francisco about 20 years ago. Police described him as a transient living in Berkeley -- where his last known address was.
Stepfather Gene DePape told The Associated Press the suspect had lived with him in Canada until he was 14 and had been a quiet boy. Gene said he hasn’t seen his stepson since 2003 and tried to get in touch with him several times over the years without success.
“In 2007, I tried to get in touch but his girlfriend hung up on me when I asked to talk to him,“ Gene DePape said.
David DePape had two children with a girlfriend he followed to San Francisco and another child with a different woman, according to his stepfather.
The suspect was known in Berkeley as a pro-nudity activist who had picketed naked at protests against local ordinances requiring people to be clothed in public.
A 2013 article in The San Francisco Chronicle described David DePape as a “hemp jewelry maker” who lived in a Victorian flat in Berkeley with pro-nudity activist Gypsy Taub, who hosted a talk show on local public-access TV called “Uncensored 9/11,” in which she appeared naked and pushed conspiracy theories that the 2001 terrorist attacks were “an inside job.”
Photographs published by The Chronicle on Friday identified DePape frolicking nude outside city hall with dozens of others at Taub's 2013 wedding to another man.
Web blogs posted in recent months online under the name David DePape contained rants about technology, aliens, communists, religious minorities, transexuals and global elites. The posts questioned the results of the 2020 election, defended former President Donald Trump and echoed QAnon conspiracy theories that the country is run by a deep state cabal of child sex traffickers, satanic pedophiles and baby-eating cannibals.
NBC News reports the website, which was registered under “david depape” and to a ZIP code in the Bay Area, according to registration records, did not mention Nancy Pelosi's name.
On a different site, someone posting under the suspect's name repeated false claims about COVID vaccines and questioned whether climate change is real.
NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit was at an address listed for DePape when FBI agents arrived Friday. People inside the home told agents they hadn’t seen DePape for years.
But neighbors in the area told NBC Bay Area they had spotted him more recently.
“He’s never approached me or my partner at all, but I’ve just seen him helping out around the house with yard work,” one neighbor said.
The assault on Pelosi injected new anxiety into the nation's already toxic political climate, just days before the midterm elections. It also carried chilling echoes of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol, when rioters chanted menacingly for the speaker as they rampaged through the halls trying to halt certification of Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump.
Speaker Pelosi, who was in Washington at the time of the California attack, arrived in San Francisco late Friday. Her motorcade was seen arriving at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, where Paul Pelosi is recovering from surgery. The AP reports he was being treated for blunt force injuries to his head and body, bruising and swelling.
At an evening news conference, Police Chief William Scott said the attack was not a "random act. This was intentional." He also strongly rejected violence in politics.
“Our elected officials are here to do the business of their cities and their counties and their states. Their families don’t sign up for this,” Scott said. "Everybody should be disgusted about what happened this morning.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
