David DePape, the conspiracy theorist who attacked Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul with a hammer and conspired to interrogate the former House speaker via video, was found guilty Friday of state charges related to the attack.
A jury in state court found DePape guilty of five felonies, according to multiple news outlets. The charges stem from an attack that investigators say was the start of a planned “rage” to go after high-profile targets including actor Tom Hanks and Gov. Gavin Newsom.
He was convicted of imprisonment, burglary, threatening a public official’s family, attempting to influence a witness and aggravated kidnapping. The sentence comes seven months after he was found guilty of federal charges in the assault.
DePape’s social media accounts and interviews with friends and former colleagues detail how he began to gravitate toward baseless right-wing conspiracy theories. He has blogged about several discredited conspiracy theories, including those widely known as “Pizzagate” and “QAnon,” which posit that Hollywood and Democratic figures run large sex abuse rings.
San Francisco Assistant District Atty. Phoebe Maffei argued during the trial that DePape targeted Nancy Pelosi because she was Speaker of the House at the time, making her second in line for the presidency, the San Francisco Chronicle reported heir. She was not home during the break-in.
“We have not seen anyone planning to break into the home of our nation’s leader, take hostages and nearly kill that person’s spouse,” Maffei told jurors, according to the Chronicle. “Thankfully, that’s the case. Very unusual. But that’s how it happened.
In November, DePape was convicted in federal court of attempting to kidnap Nancy Pelosi and assault her husband. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Attorneys with the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office representing DePape successfully sought to dismiss several charges against him in the state case, saying they were similar to those on which he was convicted in federal court.
In response, San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Harry Dorfman dismissed the charges of attempted murder, elder abuse and assault with a deadly weapon. Defense attorneys argued that the state’s double jeopardy law bars defendants from being tried multiple times for the same crime.
In closing arguments, Public Defender Adam Lipson argued that his client could be guilty of false imprisonment, burglary and trying to influence a witness. But he told jurors that DePape should not be found guilty of aggravated kidnapping and threatening the family of a public official, the Chronicle reported.
Lipson reportedly argued that DePap’s threats were not specifically aimed at Pelosi’s role as House speaker but were intended to find and achieve other targets.
As the state trial wraps up this week, conspiracy theories continue to play out.
On Tuesday, Dorfman barred DePape’s former partner from the courtroom and the second floor of the building, according to the Associated Press. The decision came after nudist activist Gypsy Taub distributed leaflets outside the court with a link to her website, which promotes a series of conspiracy theories.
The address to Taub’s website was found on the wall and in a toilet paper dispenser in the courthouse’s women’s bathroom the day Dorfman kicked her off the second floor.
Dorfman accused Taub of “attempting to corruptly influence one or more jurors” and directed bailiffs to escort her away.
