Attack on Paul Pelosi: a warning about violent extremism before the US election

Attack on Paul Pelosi comes with just over a week to go before the US midterm elections. There has been a steady drumbeat of violence—and violent threats—that has been building all year. In June, a man was arrested near the home of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. The following month, Republican candidate for governor Lee Zeldin was attacked while on stage during a campaign rally. The number of threats against members of Congress has increased every year since 2017. In the first three months of 2022, Capitol Police documented more than 1,800 incidents.

Paul Pelosi, 82 years old, was taken to a hospital in San Francisco for treatment of a fractured skull as well as injuries to his right arm and hands. He underwent surgery for all of these conditions. The suspect, identified as 42-year-old David Depape, was taken into custody at the scene and booked on suspicion of attempted murder.

Depape spread memes and conspiratorial theories about the COVID vaccine, the upcoming presidential election in 2020, and the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 on his Facebook page. The police chief credited the 911 operator with doing so, praising her for using her experience and intuition to arrive at this conclusion. Paul Pelosi called emergency 911 and spoke in a “code,” not directly stating that he was being attacked; this led the dispatcher to infer that something was amiss. The rhetoric represents the zenith of what was previously stated.