The attack on then-82-year-old Paul Pelosi just days before the 2022 midterm elections sent shockwaves through the US political world.
The man who attacked the husband of top US lawmaker Nancy Pelosi with a hammer in the couple’s California home was found guilty Thursday in a San Francisco federal court.
Jurors convicted David DePape of assault for the attack in which he fractured Paul Pelosi’s skull. He was also found guilty of attempting to kidnap Nancy Pelosi, the then-speaker of the House of Representatives, who was not at home at the time.
“A federal jury has convicted David DePape of Attempted Kidnapping of a Federal Officer or Employee and Assault on the Immediate Family Member of a Federal Official,” said US prosecutors in a statement.
“DePape faces a maximum sentence of up to life in prison.”
The jury deliberated for less than a day, and returned a unanimous verdict, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
At the time of the October 2022 attack, Democrat Nancy Pelosi was second in line to the presidency and a regular target of far-right conspiracy theories.
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Jurors heard how DePape – a Canadian former nudist activist who supported himself with occasional carpentry work – had initially planned to target Nancy Pelosi, planning to smash her kneecaps if she did not admit to her party’s “lies”.
