A local man has been making headlines south of the border for all the wrong reasons.
David DePape, 42, originally from Powell River, invaded the San Francisco home of then-US house speaker Nancy Pelosi last October. DePape beat her 82-year-old husband, Paul Pelosi, with a hammer. He recorded the attack on video and later that day made a chilling phone call to a reporter.
“Now that you all have seen the body cam footage, I have an important message for everyone in America,” DePape told KTVU’s, Amber Lee. “You’re welcome.”
DePape now faces attempted murder, break and enter, and numerous other charges. How did this man who grew up in Powell River become a violent pro-Trump, conspiracy theorist?
In an interview with the Associated Press, his stepfather Gene DePape recalled a quiet kid, who was never violent and didn’t get into trouble. But he also told the reporter that his stepson “was very reclusive and played too much video games.”
“He was just your average student,” former School District 47 guidance counselor Jim Palm told Global News. “There was never any concern or problems we faced when dealing with David.”
In 2003, DePape followed a girlfriend to San Francisco. That was the last time his stepfather saw or talked to him.
It’s easy to see a familiar theme: a quiet, somewhat isolated, young man turns to violence to air his grievances. But it’s always more complicated than that.
In the years that followed, DePape became more and more entangled in bizarre and extreme ideas.
He was known as a pro-nudity activist in San Francisco and was frequently seen at protests buck naked.
But there was something else darker happening in DePape’s mind. Increasingly he aligned himself with conspiracy theories like QAnon.
Social media posts show DePape spreading conspiracy theories about Holocaust denial, pedophiles in government, and claims elected officials are running child sex rings. He believes Trump won the 2020 election.
Perhaps the most disturbing about this Canadian man’s descent into extremism and conspiracy is that he is not alone, far from it. He’s actually getting support from Trump-aligned Republicans.
Following DePape’s vicious assault on an old man, some right-wing media personalities in the U.S. suggested Paul Pelosi had faked his own attempted murder.
It got worse. At least nine Republican politicians made social media posts either making fun of the attack or casting doubt on if it really happened. Among them was Marjorie Taylor Greene, the infamous Republican representative from Georgia.
But DePape’s story is about much more than one Canadian man’s descent into delusion and violence. You might recall that the Proud Boys, a recognized terrorist organization, was founded by Canadian Gavin McInnes.
Canadians are not immune to dangerous conspiracies and misinformation. Look no further than the pro-virus crowd, the Ottawa occupiers, and the decaying state of our political discourse.
Ideas matter. Facts matter. And when left to fester, ideas without facts can infect a person until he lashes out in violence.
