In the early morning hours of Friday, October 28th, an intruder broke into the home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi before viciously attacking her husband, Paul Pelosi, with a hammer. The House Speaker herself was luckily in Washington at the time, and Mr. Pelosi is expected to make a full recovery, despite sustaining a skull fracture and serious injuries to his hands and right arm. But the question remains, how did this happen?

According to authorities, the suspect David DePape, 42, has been charged with six felonies(attempted murder, residential burglary, elder abuse, assault with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment of an elder, and threatening family members of public officials).He broke into the Pelosi’s San Francisco home around 2:30 AM, reportedly smashing the windows of the Pelosi’s backdoor and allegedly yelling “Where’s Nancy?” The suspect was found to have been carrying a backpack with rope, zip ties, and the aforementioned hammer. His plan, the assailant informed the police, was to take the Speaker hostage, and possibly break her kneecaps, seeing her as “the ‘leader of the pack’ of lies told by the Democratic Party.” However, fortunately, Mr. Pelosi was able to fight the assailant giving him the time to call the police who  tackled and apprehended the assailant upon arriving. Unfortunately, the attack has given rise to conspiracy theories on the internet claiming that the attack was somehow staged for political reasons and some even more bizarre than that. Meanwhile, Mrs. Pelosi said in an interview that she worries about the “emotional toll” this will take on her husband, children, and grandchildren.

The attack came just weeks before the midterm elections and in an era where political division and violence seems to be on the rise. This isn’t even the first time the Pelosis’ house was vandalized. In 2021, vandals had graffiti’d the house following the passing of the COVID-19 Stimulus bill. And, of course, the 2021 Attack on the Capitol is still looming in America’s mind. 

Both sides, especially in the far fringes of the internet, have been increasingly vilified by the other. It remains unclear whether this trend will continue or perhaps subside as the country exits the election year in disgust at these attacks.