David DePape, the suspect accused of violently assaulting Paul Pelosi, husband of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is a 42-year-old Canadian citizen who is in the country illegally, according to immigration authorities.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has said that DePape is in the country on an expired temporary visitor’s visa, for which Immigration and Customs Enforcement has demanded that San Francisco County surrender it to them for possible deportation to Canada.
However, he would serve time in the United States before being returned to Canada if found guilty of any of the numerous charges against him that could carry sentences ranging from thirteen years to life imprisonment.
DePape faces several state charges – including attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, robbery and threatening a public official – and several federal charges, including attempted kidnapping and threatening or assaulting a family member of a public official in retaliation.
According to the authorities’ records, DePape entered the United States in March 2008 through San Ysidro, a district of the Californian city of San Diego, as a temporary visitor, although normally Canadian citizens do not require any visa if their stay is less than six months.
The official police version states that DePape entered the Pelosi home in San Francisco with the intention of taking the Speaker of the House hostage, confronting her 82 year old husband, who, after being hit with a hammer, had to undergo surgery for a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hand.
DePape’s Internet records describe him as a person prone to spouting conspiracy theories on a wide range of topics, from aliens, communism, Jews, voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election and other types of conspiracies embraced by the U.S. far right.
