On Oct. 28, at Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco residence, her husband, Paul Pelosi, was attacked with a hammer by David DePape. While Nancy was in Washington, DC at the time of the attack, DePape was ultimately looking for her.
What Happened?
According to The New York Times, Paul was awakened to DePape breaking into his home at 2 a.m. After that, DePape asked for Nancy, who was in DC for a couple of days. DePape then told Paul that he wanted to talk to Nancy and claimed he would have broken her kneecaps as well as held her hostage if she were to lie to him in order to make an example out of her for the rest of Congress.
Eventually, after a failed attempt to reach the elevator, Paul was able to escape to the bathroom to make a 911 call. Once the police showed up, they found Paul and DePape fighting over a hammer. DePape was able to pull the hammer from Paul and swung at his head. As reported by The New York Times, this resulted in Paul “unconscious on the floor, where he lay in a pool of blood.”
This attack left Paul with a broken skull as well as other serious injuries to his right arm and hands, according to the Los Angeles Times. Luckily though, Paul was released from the hospital on Nov. 4.
Who is David DePape?
While DePape has been living in California since 2008, according to the Los Angeles Times, he has been living in the United States illegally. DePape, who is 42, is originally from Canada. In a series of interviews by ABC7, former neighbors of DePape describe him as “quiet” and “strange”, as well as subject to conspiracy theories.
Furthermore, ABC7 held an interview with Oxane “Gypsy” Taub, DePape’s former partner, over the phone. Taub is currently being held in California Institution for Women for being found guilty on twenty accounts, which includes an attempted abduction of a fourteen-year-old boy. In the interview, Taub revealed that DePape struggles with mental illness, disclosing that after disappearing for a year, he claimed he was Jesus and had extreme paranoia. When the two were together, DePape’s political beliefs aligned with Taub’s, which were mostly progressive, which led to Taub’s apology to the Pelosi’s in this interview. Taub told ABC7: “I absolutely admire Nancy Pelosi.”
Responses from Other Political Officials
While many political officials have expressed their sympathy towards the Pelosis, including politicians from both parties, a few have turned to ridicule. One politician in particular, Donald Trump Jr., has mocked the attack on Paul Pelosi with tweets such as this one on Oct. 30:
DePape has been charged with assault on an immediate family member of a federal official and attempted kidnapping of a federal official, along with multiple state charges. However, he has pleaded not guilty.
Tweet us, @VALLEYmag, with your thoughts on the attack on Paul Pelosi.
