- Paul Pelosi (husband of Speaker Nancy Pelosi) was attacked on Friday morning.
- This attack echos the threats to violence made against the House Speaker on January 6, 20,21.
- Experts believe that the attack occurred in an atmosphere of violence-tinged mainstream rhetoric.
Motivation for the Friday Morning Attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has not been established, but experts say that the assault on a politically-connected figure comes amid an atmosphere of violent rhetoric gone mainstream.
Carolyn Gallaher is a professor at American University, who has done research on far-right groups. US paramilitariesInsider heard from a, that the idea of attacking a politician such as Pelosi wasn’t a random thought, but rather, a “stew” of misinformations, hate, conspiracy theories, complete misogyny, and disrespect.
Gallaher said that although they might have planned it all, they didn’t come up with the idea to visit Nancy Pelosi’s house out of thin air. “This stuff is all over social media, and it’s not only in conspiratorial corners.”
Police identified the suspect on Friday as 42-year-old David DePape and have recommended charges of attempted homicide, elder abuse, assault with a deadly weapon, and burglary. According to the San Francisco Chronicle DePape was a nudist activist with Berkeley, California as well as a Green Party member. He also liked to post conspiracy theories and far-right views via his personal blog.
CNN and The Associated Press reported the story.According to reports, the attacker broke into the San Francisco residence of the Pelosis looking for Nancy and shouting “Where is Nancy?”
This call closely echoes some of the chants made by rioters on January 6, 2020. One woman arrested after storming the Capitol claimed that she hoped it would be a peaceful protest. Pelosi is “the friggin brain”While other Demonstrators broke into and vandalized Congresswoman Janet Reno’s office.
Gallaher said that she does not believe there is a causal link between the words or actions of any politician or group and the attack or the motives. However, the idea of inciting violence to political ends up being accepted by mainstream media outlets and public figures who don’t condemn it, she stated.
She said that there are many Republican Congress members who won’t condemn the events of January 6. “So there’s mainstream speech that doesn’t recognize the violence committed that day.”
A month after the Capitol siege, the Republican National Committee characterized the event as “ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse” and censured Rep. Liz Cheney and Rep. Adam Kinzinger — two GOP members who chose to denounce the riot and participate in the House investigation of the attacks.
Eric Ward, senior advisor at Western States Center, and an expert on extremism said that the attack was not surprising considering the rhetoric. Republican candidatesFox News, for example, is a right-wing outlet. Tucker Carlson, for instance, used to call the riot, “forgettably small” and a mere act or vandalism.
Ward said that although it might seem strange that this incident occurred, when you think about the months of political rhetoric used by campaigners and the Fox News rhetoric from Tucker Carlson, it is not surprising that someone took this rhetoric, then made an action plan.” Ward shared his thoughts with Insider. “This is exactly the situation we are seeing, and it’s as predictable as the sun rising again.”
