Who was the suspect who attacked Paul Pelosi?

San Francisco (cron) — A 42-year-old man from Berkeley, Calif., has been accused of trespassing on the Speaker of the House. Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco home I hit my husband with a hammer before dawn on Friday.

San Francisco Police Chief William Scott identified the man as David Wayne DePape.

“Our officers confronted, disarmed and detained the suspect,” the police chief said. In the hours after DePape’s name was announced, social media was ignited over who DePape was and whether he was on the left or right of the American political spectrum.

Here’s what we know about DePape so far:

Depape is a Nudism Lover

DePape is part of a nudist advocacy group in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood.

“I’ve known him for a long time because he was associated with public nudity people in Castro. A long history with him,” State Senator Scott Weiner told KRON4. Told.

DePape is also known as a nudity activist around Berkeley. He picketed naked in protest against a law requiring people to dress in public.

he targeted Democrats

His target was Nancy Pelosi, sources told the Associated Press. Depapu shouted, “Where’s Nancy?” The AP reported before he viciously attacked the chairman’s 82-year-old husband, Paul Pelosi.

Nancy Pelosi wasn’t home. She was in Washington and was scheduled to give a keynote address with Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday. Police say Paul Pelosi was at home with a blunt force injury.

The speaker returned to San Francisco after she was notified of the attack.

he is a conspiracy theorist

DePape is a conspiracy theorist extraordinaire. “We know this person has a long history of being a conspiracy theory bias,” Wiener said.

A blog titled “God Is Loving” was written by an author named David DePape. This blog focused on “Big Brother” conspiracy theories and censorship. The authors oppose the “elite ruling class” of mainstream media and technology companies that censor those without power.

In an August post, the author wrote: You can turn on the mainstream news channels and listen to stories published by those who rule you day and night. Because he never imagined the day would come when the tech giants and private industry would become so powerful that they could single-handedly silence the people. ”

The blog was removed from WordPress on Friday. It is unknown why it was removed.

DePape appears to have made racist and often rambling posts online, including questioning the 2020 election results, defending Donald Trump, and repeating QAnon conspiracy theories.

Online posts using DePape’s name have repeated false claims about a COVID vaccine, questioned whether climate change is real, and illustrated an illustration of a zombified Hillary Clinton eating human flesh. Displayed.

he became estranged from his family

According to Linda Schneider, Depap once lived in a public warehouse and was estranged from her children and partner. He said he had a hard time communicating.

“David was very shy and reported to me that there were times when he couldn’t communicate with anyone. He was afraid to talk. He [was] It’s likely he’s an ignorant follower of what he’s seen on social media because I don’t think he needed to be brave enough to be part of a political or terrorist group,” Schneider said. I was. Also interviewed by CNN.

Depapu’s drug use caused Schneider to later distance himself from him. “His drug use started again and he moved out of his locker,” she told KRON4.

Born in British Columbia

He grew up in Powell River, British Columbia, and followed an older girlfriend to San Francisco 20 years ago. Depap had two children with a girlfriend named Gypsy, his stepfather told The Associated Press. Depap also has a child with another woman, his stepfather said.

he is still in custody

Depapu is in San Francisco police custody without bail, inmate records show. According to the SFPD, he is being treated for his injuries at a hospital and will eventually be sent to prison.

He faces a variety of charges including attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, first-degree robbery, threatening a government employee’s family member, injuring an elder, assaulting a grievously injured person, and persuading a witness.

District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said, “At this time, we believe we have sufficient evidence to charge multiple felonies: attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, and elder abuse.”

Jenkins said, “Depap’s motives are still under investigation, but there is absolutely no place for such violent attacks in our community. leaders and their families are at home, and the investigation into this horrific attack continues.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.