California court convicts Paul Pelosi assassin David DePape

DePape was also convicted of first-degree residential burglary, depriving an elderly person of their liberty by force or threat, threatening the death of a family member of a public official, and deterring a witness by force or threat.

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said in a statement that the ruling “does justice and ensures that Mr. DePape faces the consequences for his heinous crimes against the Pelosi family and our democracy.”

In a statement on behalf of the family, Aaron Bennett, spokesman for Nancy Pelosi, said the family was “in awe of their father’s courage, which was evident again on the witness stand in this trial, just as it was when he saved his own life on the night of the attack.”

“For nearly 20 grueling months, Mr. Pelosi has demonstrated extraordinary courage and fortitude every day of his recovery,” the statement continued.

DePape broke into the home of Nancy Pelosi, one of the country’s most high-profile Democratic officeholders, on October 28, 2022, and attacked her husband with a hammer. Paul Pelosi, now 84, was hospitalized with a skull fracture and other injuries after the attack, after which he lost consciousness. After the break-in, he called 911 and was attacked by DePape shortly after police arrived.

DePape, a carpenter who lived in a converted garage in Richmond, California, had immersed himself in right-wing conspiracy theories online. He told the jury in court that he spent his free time playing video games and watching YouTube videos about politics.

When he was convicted in the federal case last November, the jury found he carried out the attack because of Nancy Pelosi’s service in Congress, who represents a district that includes most of San Francisco. She was his intended target in his break-in at the House and a focal point of his beliefs, which included the extremist ideology of the radical QAnon movement, the Washington Post reported.

DePape will be sentenced for the state crimes at a later date. His attorney, Adam Lipson, said he plans to appeal, the Associated Press reported.