A timeline of threats against Nancy Pelosi — from the January 6 death threats to a claim about beheading her ‘jihadist model’ — that preceded the attack on her husband

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at her weekly news conference on Capitol Hill on June 16, 2022.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at her weekly information convention on Capitol Hill on June 16, 2022.

  • A man who violently attacked Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, could have been in search of her.
  • Violent threats to lawmakers have elevated drastically lately, in accordance to police.
  • Nancy Pelosi has confronted a number of threats, together with some that resulted in expenses or conviction.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, was attacked with a hammer at their house in San Francisco on Friday, however the intruder, who was stated to have shouted “Where is Nancy,” could have been in search of her.

Though the speaker was in Washington, DC, at the time of the attack, the incident adopted many violent threats that have been made against her and different members of Congress lately, as such threats are on the rise.

According to Capitol Police data, threats to Congressional lawmakers elevated by 144% between 2017 and 2022. In the first three months of this 12 months, practically 2,000 threats made to Congress members resulted in the Capitol Police opening instances.

Pelosi, as the prime Democrat in the House who has usually sparred with Republicans, has been the goal of a number of violent threats prior to the invasion of her house on Friday, together with some that led to felony expenses.

March 2019: A man in Florida threatened to behead Pelosi

In March 2019, a man in Florida referred to as Pelosi’s workplace to inform her workers that he would “come a long, long way to rattle her head with bullets” and that he would behead her “jihadist style,” in accordance to court documents from his trial.

“Sleep with one eye open, we’re coming to get you. America’s tired of this shit… all-out war. Bunch of you fucks are gonna die,” he added in a single of the calls, the paperwork stated.

The man, recognized as Paul Vernon Hoeffer, additionally threatened and used racist slurs against Kim Foxx, a Cook County, Illinois District Attorney, and made violent threats against Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez over the cellphone, saying he would “rip her head off,” in accordance to courtroom information.

Hoeffer was charged in December 2021 with three counts of interstate transmission of threats to kidnap or injure for his threats to Pelosi, Ocasio-Cortez, and Foxx. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 18 months in jail. 

March 2020: A man in Texas accused Pelosi of being half of a Satanic cult, prosecutors stated

In March 2020, a 27-year-old man was accused of posting on Facebook and ordering that his followers take away Democratic lawmakers akin to Pelosi “by any means necessary,” together with by killing them, CBS news reported.

The submit stated Pelosi was half of a “satanic cult,” in accordance to the felony grievance. 

“Nancy Pelosi is apart [sic] of a satanic cult and so are the people who work closely with her. Dems of the establishment will be removed at any cost necessary and yes that means by death,” the submit stated, per the grievance.

“Shoot to kill. This is a revolution,” Perry wrote, in accordance to the grievance.

The FBI arrested Perry after he stated he owned the account behind the messages. He was charged with one depend of transmitting a threatening communication however was later discovered not guilty.

January 1, 2021: Pelosi’s house is vandalized with faux pig blood and a actual pig head

On New Years Day of 2021, vandals spray painted Pelosi’s house with the phrases: “$2k CANCEL RENT! WE WANT EVERYTHING.” 

They additionally lined her driveway with fake blood and a detached pig head. 

Pelosi was not house whereas her house was being vandalized, CBS Bay Area reported

The graffiti was in reference to the 2021 COVID-19 stimulus checks, which Congressional Republicans had blocked from being elevated from $600 to $2,000. Similar graffiti appeared at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s house with the questions “Where’s my money?”

“Vandalism and the politics of fear have no place in our society,” McConnell instructed the Courier-Journal in 2021.

January 6, 2021: Rioters breach the Capitol asking for Pelosi

When a pro-Trump mob breached the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, in protest of the 2020 election outcomes, some rioters stated they had been particularly looking for Pelosi.

“Nancy…Nancy…We’re coming for you Nancy,” a rioter threatened, in accordance to a video recording cited during one rioter’s case.

“Where’s Nancy Pelosi?,” one other one, David Antonio Ticas, requested throughout the attack, in accordance to prosecutors. 

Another man who deliberate to be at the the Capitol on January 6 drove from Colorado to Washington, DC, with an assault rifle, a handgun, and a number of rounds of ammunition after threatening to put a bullet in Pelosi’s head, in accordance to a criminal complaint.

Cleveland Meredith Jr., a 53-year-old man from North Carolina, was present in his resort room a mile from the Capitol on January 7, 2021, after his mom turned him in to the FBI. A relative had knowledgeable her of a textual content Meredith despatched during which he threatened Pelosi, prosecutors stated. He was later sentenced to 28 months in jail. 

Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a New York University knowledgeable on extremism, instructed Insider’s Charles Davis that the threatening calls to Pelosi throughout January 6 had been comparable to the ones uttered by the man who attacked her husband Friday morning.

“We know that Nancy Pelosi, as Speaker of the House and third in line for the Presidential succession, was a main target of insurgents on January 6,” Ben-Ghiat stated. “The attacker who injured Paul Pelosi was looking for Nancy Pelosi, likely wanting to finish the job.”

January 17, 2021: An Arizona man says he is coming to kill Pelosi 

On January 17, 2021, lower than two weeks after the Capitol attack, a man referred to as Pelosi’s Washington, DC, workplace and left a voicemail saying “I’m coming to kill you,” according to the Justice Department. He later adopted up that voicemail with one other one, telling Pelosi: “You’re dead.”

The man, recognized as Steve Arthur Martis of Arizona, had previously been approached by the FBI for making threatening calls in the previous, the DOJ stated in a press assertion.

Martis was later charged and located responsible of one depend of speaking an interstate risk to kill or hurt and sentenced to 21 months in jail.

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