He has pleaded not guilty and faces a sentence of up to life in prison. The trial of the man who attacked the husband of former Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi with a hammer began Monday with the selection of jurors responsible for judging this case, which shook the American political class last fall.
The suspect, David DePape, a follower of numerous conspiracy theories, had violently fractured Paul Pelosi’s skull with his tool, before being arrested by police officers who filmed the attack with their pedestrian camera.
During this federal trial, the forty-year-old is being prosecuted for assault and attempted kidnapping of Pelosi. He is also the subject of separate proceedings by the Californian courts. On Monday morning, he appeared in court clean-shaven and wearing a sweater, according to NBC.
“Where’s Nancy?” »
This Canadian citizen, former nudist activist, entered the Pelosi home in San Francisco in October 2022, while the woman who was then the third person in the American state, presiding over the House of Representatives, was in Washington.
Equipped in particular with rope, pairs of gloves and adhesive tape, he came across her husband, Paul Pelosi, and asked: “Where is Nancy? »
Before being attacked, the octogenarian had managed to call the police emergency number. After his arrest, DePape explained to the police that he planned to “break the kneecaps” of the parliamentarian if she did not admit to the “lies” of the Democratic camp.
Among the conspiracy theories he shared on social networks, he notably claimed against all evidence that the American elections had been stolen.
The suspect also explained to investigators that he was on a “suicide mission” and planned to attack “several prominent political figures”, as well as members of their families and a professor in the region, according to a document from the San Francisco prosecutor’s office.
Change of scenery refused
Leader of the Democrats in the House, Ms. Pelosi had already been targeted by demonstrators who forced entry to the Capitol on January 6, 2021, without succeeding in getting their hands on her. She is regularly at the center of conspiracy theories fueled by the American extreme right.
DePape’s defense tried unsuccessfully to obtain a change of scenery for the trial, arguing that holding it in San Francisco, a region that Nancy Pelosi represented for more than thirty years in Congress, harmed the impartiality of the debates.
If convicted, he could be deported to Canada after serving his prison sentence, because he was illegally in the United States, according to local television channel KRON4.