San Francisco police identified the suspect who allegedly attacked Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, as 42-year-old David DePape, a Berkeley resident.
He has been taken into custody and will be charged with attempted murder among other felony charges, SFPD said.
SFPD said that at approximately 2:27 a.m. on Friday morning, officers responded to a call on the 2600 block of Broadway in the Pacific Heights neighborhood, where they observed Mr. Pelosi and DePape in the home, both holding onto a hammer. The suspect pulled the hammer away from Mr. Pelosi and immediately assaulted him with it. Officers then tackled the suspect, SFPD Chief Bill Scott said at a press conference.
But who is David DePape? Here’s everything we know so far:
DePape is associated with nudist activist and conspiracy theorist Gypsy Taub and reportedly shares children with her.
Inti Gonzalez said in a blog post she emailed to The Standard that she was the daughter of DePape and Taub, the latter of whom made headlines for years with her nudist activism.
Gonzalez wrote that her mother kicked DePape out “because of his toxic behavior,” adding that he was “never violent, yelled, or even swore.”
“This attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband came as a shock to me, though not much,” she said in the blog. She also wrote that she loved her father and believed that “he did genuinely try to be a good person but the monster in him was always too strong for him to be safe to be around.”
State Sen. Scott Wiener remembers seeing DePape hanging around the Castro with Taub. “I do recall him because he was very associated with Gypsy Taub, who was one of the ringleaders (of the nudity protests) from 12 years ago,” said Wiener, who represented the Castro as a supervisor before joining the state Legislature.
“He would be there with her and always seemed to me to be part of that network,” Wiener continued. “And, of course, Gypsy Taub was a conspiracy theorist. She was a 9/11 denier. So, it’s not surprising to me to see this guy be a conspiracy theorist who now apparently has migrated far right.”
People were seen going in and out of what is believed to be Taub’s Berkeley home or former residence on Woolsey Street. There was a sign posted on the door reading, “(sic) no news reporrters go away.”
A neighbor who asked not be named told The Standard they have seen DePape outside the Berkeley home as recently as two weeks ago. They said DePape was part of a “collective” that regularly stayed at the house.
DePape was present at Taub’s wedding in 2013, The Chronicle reported.
Paul Pelosi attack: Suspect David DePape identified in nudist Gypsy Taub wedding — here's photos
— San Francisco Chronicle (@sfchronicle) October 28, 2022
Read more: https://t.co/6NWyHyG1h7 pic.twitter.com/8vY49UHqer
A Wordpress blog bearing DePape’s name features writing about censorship and a tech industry plot to “silence the people.”
The blog is titled: Welcome to Big Brothers Censorship hell. It features posts from as recently as August. One post is named, “Photoghrapic (sic) PROOF Alien-Human Hybrid Infiltrators”; Another post is titled, “My favorite episode of Joe Rogan,” while another is called, “The Big Lie.”
It is unclear if he has a criminal record.
A spokesperson from the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office told The Standard that their office represented DePape in 2003 related to a trespassing allegation. The spokesperson said that the charge was dropped by the DA’s Office, adding, “I don’t have any information on who at our office represented him at that time.”
DePape’s relatives reportedly said he is estranged from his family.
He grew up in Powell River, British Columbia, but left Canada about 20 years ago to pursue a relationship that brought him to California, reported CNN. “I really don’t know what to think,” the suspect’s uncle, Mark DePape, told the network.