Man Accused Of Attacking Pelosi Was A Conspiracy Theorist: Reports

LOS ANGELES, CA — Leading up to the attack of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband on Friday, David DePape had become increasingly involved with conspiracy theories, the Los Angeles Times first reported.

Depape had run a personal blog — which has since been taken down — where he posted about topics such as "Manipulation of History," "Holohoax" and "It's OK to be white," according to a Times review of his blog.

He posted about dozens of conspiracy theories, from QAnon to the war in Ukraine being a ploy for Jewish people to buy land, the newspaper reported.

His daughter confirmed with the Times that her father ran the blog.

"I’m a little shocked," said his daughter, Inti Gozalez, "but not really that shocked, in all honesty."

Read more from the Los Angeles Times: Accused Pelosi attacker David DePape spread QAnon, other far-right, bigoted conspiracies

Stepfather Gene DePape said the suspect had lived with him in Canada until he was 14 and had been a quiet boy.

“David was never violent that I seen and was never in any trouble although he was very reclusive and played too much video games," Gene DePape said.

He said he hasn’t seen his stepson since 2003 and tried to get in touch with him several times over the years without success.

“In 2007, I tried to get in touch but his girlfriend hung up on me when I asked to talk to him,“ Gene DePape said.

David DePape was known in Berkeley as a pro-nudity activist who had picketed naked at protests against local ordinances requiring people to be clothed in public.

Gene DePape said the girlfriend whom his son followed to California was named Gypsy and they had two children together. DePape also has a child with a different woman, his stepfather said.

Photographs published by The San Francisco Chronicle on Friday identified DePape frolicking nude outside city hall with dozens of others at the 2013 wedding of pro-nudity activist Gypsy Taub, who was marrying another man. Taub did not respond Friday to calls or emails.

A 2013 article in The Chronicle described David DePape as a “hemp jewelry maker” who lived in a Victorian flat in Berkeley with Taub, who hosted a talk show on local public-access TV called “Uncensored 9/11,” in which she appeared naked and pushed conspiracy theories that the 2001 terrorist attacks were “an inside job.”

The intruder who attacked and severely beat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul, with a hammer in the couple's San Francisco home early Friday was quickly identified as 42-year-old Depape, authorities said.

While at the home, Depape searched for the Democratic leader and shouted: “Where is Nancy, where is Nancy?”

Police arrived at around 2:30 a.m., when they discovered 82-year-old Paul Pelosi and Depape both grabbing onto the hammer, said Police Chief William Scott. The intruder yanked it from Pelosi and began beating him before being subdued and arrested by officers.

READ MORE: What We Know About Paul Pelosi's Attacker, David Depape

The Associated Press contributed to this report.