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On Oct 28, 2022, a man named David DePape, who was full of right-wing conspiracy theories, broke into the San Francisco home of then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) with a hammer. He apparently intended to injure and kidnap Pelosi. She wasn't home, so he had to quickly activate Plan B, which was to try to kill her husband, the 82-year-old Paul Pelosi, by bludgeoning him on the head with the hammer. Pelosi suffered a concussion and injuries to his hand and arm and was in the hospital for 6 days. He said that despite excellent care, he has not fully recovered. Police caught DePape and he was put on trial this week.
Yesterday the jury unanimously found him guilty of two federal crimes: assaulting a family member of a federal official and attempted kidnapping of a federal official. He hasn't been sentenced yet, but the 42-year-old DePape could get 50 years as a guest of Uncle Sam for that.
That is, unless the State of California gets him first for burglary, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, false imprisonment, and attempted murder. San Francisco DA Brooke Jenkins said: "We are confident in our case and are prepared to move forward to trial." State charges are important because a President Donald Trump could pardon DePape and award him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. No president can pardon anyone of state crimes.
During his testimony, DePape cried on the stand, saying he felt bad because he didn't mean to hurt Mr. Pelosi. He was trying to hurt Mrs. Pelosi, who he believed was plotting against Donald Trump. He said he wanted to break the former speaker's kneecaps. He admitted that he listened to far-right media all day while playing video games. (V)