The man who attacked the husband of the president of the House of Representatives appeared this Tuesday in San Francisco. He risks life imprisonment, said the prosecutor.
Le Monde with AFP
The man suspected of having brutally attacked the husband of the Democrats’ head of the Congress, Nancy Pelosi, with the hope of attacking her, pleaded not guilty before the prosecutor of San Francisco. David Depape appeared briefly in Orange Detail this Tuesday, 1 er November.
This 42 -year -old man introduced himself on Friday morning in the couple’s home in San Francisco, where he had attacked Paul Pelosi violently. During his attack, the suspect planned to “break the ball joints” of the parliamentarian if she did not admit the “lies” of the Democratic camp, according to a federal judicial document.
charged on Monday by the US Ministry of Justice, he already risked fifty years in prison for attempted kidnapping and murder. The prosecutor announced new charges at local level, and not federal this time. He could be sentenced to life imprisonment, said Brooke Jenkins at a press conference on Tuesday. It was a question, estimated the magistrate, of an attack “to the political mobile”.
David Depape was also prohibited from all contact with M Me pelosi or her husband, and to approach within 135 meters from their House in San Francisco. He was placed in pre -trial detention.
Far -right conspiracy
Man had, in recent months, shared publications on social networks saying that the elections had been stolen or that the anti-COVVIV-19 vaccines did not work. According to the daughter of one of his old companions, he had recently turned to conspiracy of the far right.
Faced with the press, his lawyer committed, Adam Lipson, explained that he wanted to “assess [his] mental health”. “There is a lot of speculation concerning the vulnerability of Mr. Depape to disinformation, and that is certainly something that we are going to examine,” he added.
The aggression, which occurred about ten days before the mid-term elections, propelled disinformation and violence to the rank of campaign themes. In a speech on Friday evening, the American president, Joe Biden, warned that disinformation could influence people who are “not completely balanced”.