OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story misstated what clothing Paul Pelosi and his attacker were wearing when police found them. A fact check from USA Today determined that to be false. Local news outlet KTVU originally reported that DePape was only wearing underwear, but retracted that claim in its reporting. The Justice Department also released a criminal complaint stating that DePape was wearing shorts. We have corrected our headlines and reporting to reflect accurate information. We regret the error.
David DePape, who attacked Paul Pelosi, was accused by some of being a ‘far right’ extremist. On Saturday, Hillary Clinton blamed Republicans for spreading “conspiracy theories” while referring to an LA Times report mainly based on two of DePape’s alleged blogs.
“The Republican Party and its mouthpieces now regularly spread hate and deranged conspiracy theories,” Clinton wrote on Twitter. “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.”
Clinton’s tweet linked to an LA Times article with the headline: “Accused Pelosi attacker David DePape spread QAnon, other far-right, bigoted conspiracies.”
“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,” the article read.
Michael Shellenberger, in his blog (note: for paid subscribers), argued the opposite in his piece.
Indeed, an ABC 7 reporter traveled to the Berkeley commune where David DePape, the suspected attacker of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul Pelosi, was reported to have recently lived and interviewed a neighbor.
“He is birds of a feather with — akin to them,” she said. “So they are just, you know, nudists, drug abusers and that’s who gravitates toward them.”
“I would imagine that they’re more left-leaning because of their support for the gay community. and for I’m sorry for other people, but it is now I’m not sure what way they lean because… they have the flag, the LGBT flag with the plot,” she added.
“You know, they are completely unhinged,” she continued. “So I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t be surprised at all… nothing that they believe in aligns with their actions. So they’ll say that they are, you know, pro-black lives and then they’ll call the police on black people. And so they don’t stand by their actions don’t stand by their words.”
“So some paranoid behavior it sounds like,” the reporter commented.
“Yeah, absolutely,” Trish replied.
“And some psychotic behavior too,” the reporter said.
“Yes,” she responded.
