He beat Pelosi with a hammer during a home invasion of the couple's Pacific Heights, San Francisco residence, leaving him with a fractured skull that required surgery.

DePape had a history of mental health issues and drug abuse; before the attack, he had embraced various far-right conspiracy theories, including QAnon, Pizzagate, and Donald Trump's false claims of a stolen election in 2020.

At his subsequent trial, DePape testified that he was motivated by conspiracy theories and had hatched a "grand plan" to target Speaker Pelosi and others.

During a police interview, David DePape said that he had gained access to the Pelosi residence by breaking through glass-paneled doors at the rear of the house.

[20][22][23] Released body camera footage of San Francisco police officers showed the door opening as DePape struggled with Pelosi.

[20] After arresting the intruder, police discovered multiple zip ties, duct tape,[26][27] white rope, a second hammer, and rubber and cloth gloves in his backpack.

[35] The following day, she wrote a "Dear Colleague" letter to members of the House of Representatives, saying that her extended family was "heartbroken and traumatized by the life-threatening attack" and thanking law enforcement, emergency services, and hospital staff for aiding her husband.

[38] When asked by Anderson Cooper about her husband's condition in June 2024, over a year and a half after the attack, Nancy Pelosi replied, "He's making progress.

[8] After being Mirandized, DePape gave an interview to San Francisco Police Department officers in which he said he planned to hold Nancy hostage and that he saw her as the "leader of the pack" of lies told by the Democratic Party.

[44][45] At the time of the attack, he was present in the United States illegally, having overstayed his six-month temporary visitor B-2 visa issued in March 2008 when he entered at San Ysidro.

[55][56] One acquaintance claimed to have had to cut off contact with DePape in 2012 after he displayed megalomaniac behavior and sent her multiple emails likening himself to Jesus Christ.

[60] David's stepfather Gene DePape, who lived in Powell River at the time of the attack, told Global News that he hasn't seen his stepson since 2003, but was quiet and never violent as a child.

In the months before the attack, DePape resumed writing on his blog after a long hiatus, this time on conspiracy theories and alt-right politics.

[66][57] One month before the attack, a website written under DePape's name declared that any journalist who challenged Trump's election fraud claims "should be dragged straight out into the street and shot".

[65][51][59][68] He promoted a range of antisemitic conspiracy theories, including proclaiming the innocence of Adolf Hitler, denying the Holocaust, and accusing Jews of orchestrating the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

[10][a] The released files included the audio of DePape's police interview, the recording of the 911 call made by Pelosi just prior to the attack, the responding police officer's body-cam footage (clearly showing the attack and ensuing struggle), and home surveillance video, in which DePape is seen breaking-into the back of the house with repeated hammer blows.

In their opening statement, DePape's defense lawyers admitted that he carried out the attack, but argued that he was motivated by his belief in "conspiracy theories" rather than Pelosi's position as speaker.

[81] DePape testified that he had been radicalized beginning in 2014, when he became interested in Gamergate and started listening to right-wing podcasters,[77] and "culture war stuff" on YouTube in his spare time.

[82] Influenced by QAnon-like conspiracy theories,[81][80] DePape ultimately plotted a "grand plan" to lure "targets"—including political figures as varied as Gavin Newsom, Adam Schiff, Mike Pence, Bill Barr, Bernie Sanders, and George Soros, actor Tom Hanks, and university professor Gayle Rubin, in addition to Nancy Pelosi.

[77] DePape testified that he was "surprised and confused" to find that Speaker Pelosi was not at home, and considered his plans to be "basically ruined" at that point.

[93] After his sentencing, DePape's father Gene issued an apology statement to both Paul and Nancy on an article from the Los Angeles Times.

[96] California Governor Gavin Newsom said the "heinous attack" on Pelosi was "yet another example of the dangerous consequences of the divisive and hateful rhetoric that is putting lives at risk and undermining our very democracy.

"[40][97] San Francisco Mayor London Breed called the attack a "horrific and scary incident", offering her support to Pelosi's family and thanking the first responders.

[99] Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Twitter that "the attack on Paul Pelosi is appalling and completely unacceptable, and I condemn this violence in the strongest possible terms.

[104][112] Glenn Youngkin, the Republican governor of Virginia, said, "There's no room for violence anywhere, but we're gonna send Nancy Pelosi back to be with him in California", a remark that attracted controversy.

[113] Former Republican National Committee communications strategist Doug Heye expressed concern that intense rhetoric against Nancy Pelosi and other politicians had reached the point of inspiring violence.

[117][121][122] Elon Musk, following his acquisition of Twitter, shared a tweet with an article from a right-wing fake news website, falsely suggesting that the attack resulted from a drunken Paul Pelosi having a fight with a male prostitute.

[119][120][125] Referring to various conspiracies, conservative talk radio host Charlie Kirk called for an "amazing patriot" from among his audience to "be a midterm hero" by deciding to "bail out" DePape "and then go ask him some questions".

[129][130][131] Trump Jr. responded to a tweet making fun of Pelosi about a Halloween "costume" of just a hammer and a pair of white briefs, writing, "The Internet remains undefeated.

Bump wrote that these false narratives gained popularity among right-wing users on social media, where there was "an audience for extreme conspiracy theories"; "an infrastructure for vetting and promoting them"; and "very little interest in self-correcting".