David DePape Found Guilty of Federal Assault Charges in Attack on Paul Pelosi

The man who attacked Nancy Pelosi’s husband with a hammer after breaking into the Pelosis’ San Francisco home last year was convicted Thursday on federal assault charges.

David DePape, 43, admitted at trial that he was inspired by right-wing conspiracy theories before smashing Paul Pelosi’s head with a hammer on Oct. 28, 2022.

Pelosi, 83, said that DePape specifically asked, “Where’s Nancy?” after his plans to disrupt American democracy instead brought him face-to-face with an elderly man in his bed at 2 a.m. Nancy Pelosi was in Washington, D.C. at the time, days before the midterm elections.

As Paul Pelosi and DePape continued to talk, Pelosi noticed the intruder holding a hammer and zip ties and dialed 911.

“It was a tremendous sense of shock to recognize that somebody had broken into the house and looking at him and looking at the hammer and the ties, I recognized that I was in serious danger, so I tried to stay as calm as possible,” Pelosi testified Monday.

When officers arrived, they discovered Pelosi and DePape struggling over a hammer. Bodycam videos captured the moment when DePape gained control of the weapon and fractured Pelosi’s skull with it.

DePape apologized during his testimony on Thursday. He said he reacted out of anger when the cops arrived because he realized his plan was foiled.

“He was never my target and I’m sorry that he got hurt,” DePape testified Tuesday. “I reacted because my plan was basically ruined.”

DePape told police that Nancy Pelosi was supposed to be the first of several politicians to feel his wrath, including President Joe Biden and California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

On the stand, DePape described how he used to hold liberal beliefs before listening to a series of right-wing podcasts. The hosts convinced DePape that Democrats and prominent Hollywood stars were secretly trafficking children as part of a web of corruption.

DePape was convicted of attempted kidnapping of a federal official and assault of a federal official’s relative because of that official’s job.

His attorneys attempted to thread a needle, arguing that he planned to attack Nancy Pelosi because he believed she was involved in a conspiracy, not because of her work in Congress. They pointed out that some of his other planned targets included actor Tom Hanks and a women’s studies professor at the University of Michigan.

“Would he have gone to the Pelosis’ home if Rep. Nancy Pelosi had not been a member of Congress?” prosecutor Helen Gilbert countered. “No. He deliberately targeted her because of her job, because of her role in our political system. Because of her official duties.”

DePape could be sentenced to a maximum of life in prison. He also faces a state trial on attempted murder and assault charges.

With News Wire Services