The attacker of the husband of former Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi detailed his conspiratorial beliefs Tuesday in a San Francisco court, which led him to foment a nebulous plan to put an end to the alleged corruption of the American government.
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Paul Pelosi “was never my target and I am sorry that he was hurt,” assured David DePape, according to local channel FOX KTVU. He fractured her skull with a hammer when he realized his “plan was essentially ruined.”
This ex-nudist activist is being prosecuted for assault and also attempted kidnapping of Ms. Pelosi. Charges which could earn him up to life imprisonment.
The forty-year-old entered the home of the Pelosi couple in San Francisco at the end of October 2022, a few days before the mid-term elections, equipped with rope, gloves and adhesive tape.
AFP
The former President of the House of Representatives, at the time third person in the American state and regular target of conspiracy theories fueled by the extreme right, was then in Washington.
According to the prosecution, David DePape asked several times “Where is Nancy?”, before attacking her husband, who ingeniously managed to alert the police. Arriving at the last minute, the agents captured the attack with their body-worn camera.
Mr. DePape cried several times on the stand on Tuesday while detailing his vision of the world, according to several American media.
He explained that he listened to very right-wing podcasts and believed in conspiracy theories, from the organization of the September 11, 2001 attacks by the American government itself to the existence of a pedophilia network profiting from political elite.
His initial plan was to use Nancy Pelosi to “lure” a feminist academic whom he accuses of turning America’s schools into “pedophile factories” and destroying children’s sense of identity, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The defendant also admitted wanting to attack other personalities, including California Governor Gavin Newsom, President Hunter Biden’s son, and actor Tom Hanks.
Paul Pelosi “seemed to feel real remorse about the corruption in (Washington) DC,” he said, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. “Things were going pretty well until the very last second.”
David DePape has pleaded not guilty in this case. His defense acknowledges the attack, but disputes the fact that he wanted to specifically attack Ms. Pelosi or her husband because of his status as a federal official – a key factor for the prosecution.
In addition to this federal trial, he must also be tried separately by the California courts.