How Elon Musk, Trump and Tucker Carlson helped far-right conspiracy theorists hijack the Paul Pelosi attack

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The details of the attack on Paul Pelosi are outlined in several court documents based on 911 calls, police video, surveillance footage and interviews with Mr DePape himself, who reportedly told officers that he was “sick of the insane f****** level of lies coming out of Washington DC” and intended to send a message to members of Congress that there were consequences for their actions. As paraphrased by police, Mr DePape allegedly told investigators that he believed that “much like the American founding fathers with the British, he was fighting against tyranny without the option of surrender.” In an interview, he also “explained that by breaking Nancy’s kneecaps, she would then have to be wheeled into Congress, which would show other members of Congress there were consequences to actions,” according to court filings. It also removed a reference to Mr Pelosi’s “‘friend’ in his underwear.” The story’s headline was later edited to read “EXCLUSIVE: Two Far-Right Websites Attributed to David DePape to Smear Conservatives Were Scraped Friday and Deleted Saturday.” But it already had been shared widely, including by far-right conspiracy theorist Dinesh D’Souza, whose Twitter post was shared thousands of times. The Gateway Pundit story continues to falsely assert that the websites registered to Mr DePape are “likely fakes.” On Instagram, Donald Trump Jr shared another Twitter user’s post with a photo of a hammer on top of a pair of white underwear, adding, “Got my Paul Pelosi Halloween costume ready.” He shared another post with two South Park characters having sex, while one character says into a phone “I’m being attacked!” Louisiana Congressman Clay Higgins tweeted, then deleted, a picture of Ms Pelosi with the caption “that moment you realize the nudist hippie male prostitute LSD guy is the reason your husband didn’t make it to your fundraiser.” New York Congressman Claudia Tenney also posted, then deleted, a photo with several men carrying hammers outside of a home that has been wrongly identified as Mr DePape’s home with a “United Against Hate” sign and LGBT+ Pride flag.