The violent attack Friday on U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul, has raised questions about increasing political violence in America as details about the alleged assailant, David DePape, and the assault itself continue to emerge.
Here’s the latest:
Charges Against David DePape
District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said in a statement that David DePape will be arraigned Tuesday. The DA's Office plans to file multiple felony charges against him on Monday, including attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, burglary and elder abuse.
Zip Ties: An 'Echo' of Jan. 6
In what the Associated Press dubbed a “Jan. 6 echo,” the alleged attacker is reported to have been carrying zip ties, which he may have planned to use to restrain his intended victim, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
“The man accused of attacking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband carried zip ties with him when he broke into the couple’s San Francisco home, according to a person briefed on the investigation,” the AP reported.
DA Jenkins confirmed that the alleged attacker, DePape, was searching for the speaker.
Rumor-Mongering Musk
Just three days after his acquisition of San Francisco-based Twitter was finalized, Elon Musk circulated a highly conspiratorial and homophobic take on the incident.
In a since-deleted tweet, Musk shared a link to an article in an outlet called The Santa Monica Observer, which speculated that Paul Pelosi knew his attacker.
Musk's tweet was in response to a post from Hillary Clinton reading, "the Republican Party and its mouthpieces now regularly spread hate and deranged conspiracy theories. It is shocking, but not surprising, that violence is the result. As citizens, we must hold them accountable for their words and the actions that follow."
Daughter of Hammer-Wielding Attacker Speaks Out
DePape's daughter sent The Standard a blog post in which she said that he'd been kicked out of their home by her mother, Oxane "Gypsy" Taub, “because of his toxic behavior." Inti Gonzalez added that her father was “never violent, yelled, or even swore.”
“This attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband came as a shock to me, though not much,” Gonzalez said in the blog post.
DePape’s Ex
Oxane Taub, who goes by the first name “Gypsy,” and is currently serving time at the Californian Institution for Women in Corona, California, spoke to local television outlet ABC 7 about her former partner. Taub told ABC 7 that DePape "has been mentally ill for a long time."
She told the outlet that she and DePape had raised their three children together until about seven years ago, and recalled a time when he disappeared for a year and came back "in very bad shape."
"He thought he was Jesus. He was constantly paranoid, thinking people were after him," Taub told ABC 7. "And it took a good year or two to get back to, you know, being halfway normal."
The 911 Call
San Francisco police were alerted to the incident by a 911 call placed by Paul Pelosi. SF Police Chief Bill Scott credited the 911 dispatcher who answered the call for acting fast and getting police to the scene quickly.
Police scanner recordings of the incident paint a terrifying picture of the alleged attacker, DePape, claiming to be a friend of Speaker Pelosi’s to her husband inside the home.