In a personal blog that DePape maintained, posts include such topics as “Manipulation of History,” “Holohoax” and “It’s OK to be white.” He mentioned 4chan, a favorite message board of the far right. He posted videos about conspiracies involving COVID-19 vaccines and the war in Ukraine being a ploy for Jewish people to buy land.
DePape’s screeds included posts about QAnon, an unfounded theory that former President Trump is at war with a cabal of Satan-worshipping elites who run a child sex ring and control the world. In an Aug. 23 entry titled “Q,” DePape wrote: “Either Q is Trump himself or Q is the deepstate moles within Trumps inner circle.”
DePape’s daughter, Inti Gonzalez, told The Times that her father wrote the blog. She said that she and her mother were reeling from the news that DePape had been arrested in connection with the attack on Paul Pelosi.
“I’m a little shocked,” she said, “but not really that shocked, in all honesty.”...
...Several lawmakers have blamed hyper-partisanship and divisive political rhetoric for an increase in political violence and security incidents in recent years, especially following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
San Francisco police Chief William Scott said after a 911 call to the Pelosi residence, officers found a man — later identified as DePape — and Paul Pelosi “both holding a hammer.” The intruder pulled the hammer from the 82-year-old Pelosi and then began striking him, Scott said. Officers tackled the suspect, disarmed him and took him into custody.
DePape, 42, was taken to a hospital and later booked at the San Francisco County Jail on suspicion of attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, burglary and destroying a cellphone to prevent someone from seeking help, authorities said.