Fact Check: Pelosi Attack Suspect David DePape Is NOT Pictured Here - It's Sean Dunnavant, Charged With Murder In Chicago

Fact Check

  • by: Sarah Thompson
Fact Check: Pelosi Attack Suspect David DePape Is NOT Pictured Here - It's Sean Dunnavant, Charged With Murder In Chicago Misidentified

Is the man pictured at left David DePape, the suspect who allegedly broke into the home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on October 28, 2022, and attacked her husband, Paul Pelosi, with a hammer? No, that's not true: Police have identified the man arrested at the Pelosi home as David DePape, but have not released a mugshot as of this writing. The photo featured here, which has appeared on social media, shows a different man, Sean Dunnavant, who was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in Chicago on October 28, 2022.

A Twitter feed aggregation website called tweet247.com shows Dunnavant's mugshot prominently in a list of tweets about David DePape.

One such tweet appeared on the account of @_Tic_Tock_ (archived here) on October 28, 2022. Its text reads:

Suspect David DePape attacked Paul Pelosi with a
hammer shouting
'Where's Nancy!?'

This is how the tweet appeared at the time of writing:

SD-Pelosi claim.png

(Source: Twitter screenshot taken on Fri Oct 28 16:54:10 2022 UTC)

The tweet links to an October 28, 2022, news article on the website of Chicago's WGN9, an independent television station, about the Pelosi attack ("Suspect who shouted 'Where is Nancy?' in Pelosi attack identified").

The photo is connected with another WGN9 news story ("Man charged with first-degree murder in death of 66-year-old liquor store owner") about the arrest of Sean Dunnavant in connection with the October 28, 2022, shooting of Chicago shopkeeper Salim Khamo.

The article has only a photo of Khamo, but not of the man who was charged. However, Dunnavant's photo does appear in a promotional tout for the article (seen below) on the homepage of Chicago's WGN-9. At the time of writing, Dunnavant's photo appears directly above the article about the attack on Paul Pelosi.

wgn.jpg

(Source: wgntv.com screenshot taken on Fri Oct 28 21:22:59 2022 UTC)

The examples in this Lead Stories composite image below show how the photo from one tweet in a collection of tweets about David DePape became the main photo at the top of the tweet247.com page.

misidentified.jpg

(Source: Lead Stories composite image with tweet247.com and Twitter.com screenshots taken on Fri Oct 28 22:08:39 2022 UTC)

Another such post appeared on the Sheeple Rescue Center account on Facebook on October 28, 2022, at 2:53 p.m., EDT. Posted by Proud Americans, its text reads:

This is the attacker on Pelosi's husband, David Depape. Liberal media is not talking much about race not showing it as the headline photo. Guess why?

This is how the post appeared at the time of writing:

Sheeple Rescue Center - SD.png

(Image Source: Facebook Screenshot taken on Fri Oct 28 23:00:06 2022 UTC)

At the time of this fact check's writing, the San Francisco police had not released a mugshot of the actual David DePape, who is reportedly being treated in a hospital for injuries. He faces potential charges of attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, burglary and elder abuse.

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  Sarah Thompson

Sarah Thompson lives with her family and pets on a small farm in Indiana. She founded a Facebook page and a blog called “Exploiting the Niche” in 2017 to help others learn about manipulative tactics and avoid scams on social media. Since then she has collaborated with journalists in the USA, Canada and Australia and since December 2019 she works as a Social Media Authenticity Analyst at Lead Stories.


 

Read more about or contact Sarah Thompson

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