What we know about David DePape, suspect in Paul Pelosi attack

Updated: Oct. 28, 2022 12:09 p.m.

Law enforcement have identified David DePape 42, as a suspect in the Friday morning home invasion violent attack on Paul Pelosi. Officer's said that when they arrived at the Pelosis' home at 3 a.m. they found a man and Pelosi — the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — holding a hammer.

The assailant allegedly wrested the hammer from Pelosi's hands and beat him with it. DePape was booked on suspicion of attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon and elder abuse. Here is what we know about him so far:

1. He was tapped to be the best man in a 2013 nudist wedding at San Francisco City Hall. David DePape was known as a "father figure" in a three-bedroom Victorian flat in Berkeley, where famed nudist activist Gypsy Taub lived with her three children and fiance Jaymz Smith prior to the wedding she had planned to hold on the steps of City Hall. The couple had tapped DePape, a hemp jewelry maker who lived with them in the crowded home, to be their best man.

2. He listed himself as a member of the Green Party. Voting records show DePape listed himself as a member of the Green Party years ago.

3. He kept a blog with screeds about "the ruling class" and other conspiracy theories. "The elites/ruling class never censor themselves,"DePape wrote in a WordPress blog he apparently maintained and kept updating through August 28 — the date of the last post. With the domain " godisloving.wordpress.com " and banner "Welcome to Big Brothers Censorship Hell," the blog, which lists DePape as an author, is larded with conspiracy theories about elites — including government officials, tech companies and media outlets — who he accuses of censorship.

It includes a series of entries with headlines that invoke conservative beliefs or conspiracy theories promoted in far-right circles. On Aug. 25, DePape created posts with such headlines as "Communist Voodoo science" and "Feminist gets owned." A post on Aug. 25 titled "The woke are Racists with a guilty conscience" has no text or links in the body.