The Assault On Her Husband Isn't The First Time Nancy Pelosi Has Been The Target Of Attacks
Nancy Pelosi is one of the most important and influential people in the world. As Britannica says, she is the current speaker of the House of Representatives, making her one of the most powerful people in American politics right now. Pelosi is also the first female House speaker in American history. Some of Pelosi's most memorable actions include her fierce criticism of President George W. Bush for the Iraq War, as well as the time she sarcastically clapped for President Donald Trump during his 2019 state of the union address, a moment (per The Guardian) which went viral. (on YouTube).
As CNN reports, Pelosi's husband, Paul Pelosi, was attacked on October 28. The alleged perpetrator has been identified as far-right individual David DePape. He is said to have broken into the Pelosis' San Francisco home with the intent of attacking Nancy herself, though got into a scuffle with her husband instead. Paul suffered multiple injuries and is currently at the hospital recovering. Unfortunately, this also isn't the first time that Nancy Pelosi has been the target of a physical attack.
Pelosi's house was once vandalized
December 2020, lawmakers were arguing back and forth over whether Americans should be sent $2,000 in COVID relief checks. On the front line of this contentious debate, Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats held a vote on this and other things within a pandemic aid plan. The Republicans eventually blocked these checks, however, leading to many frustrations from affected Americans (via Fortune).
Some of this outrage was directed at Nancy Pelosi herself. As ABC7 News explains, Pelosi's house was vandalized in January of 2021. Her garage door had the words "$2k," "cancel rent," and "we want everything," along with an anarchist symbol spray-painted in black. In front of it was fake blood and a pig head as well. As of now, the identity of the suspects who perpetrated the vandalism on the speaker's home isn't known; no personal, physical assaults were part of the incident.
Pelosi was one of the targets during the January 6 Capitol riots
The FBI considers the January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol as one of the largest acts of domestic terrorism committed in American history. As Britannica says, the riots were carried out after Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential elections, leading to a wave of far-right supporters gathering at the Capitol en masse as protest. The targets of this rage were elected officials of the Democratic party, along with a few Republicans like Mike Pence, who were viewed by some rioters wholly responsible for what they called a stolen election.
As The Washington Post explains, these rioters targeted Nancy Pelosi in a fairly misogynistic way, calling out her name in a condescending, threatening manner. The rioters also managed to break into Pelosi's office and steal her laptop, hard drives, and other personal data (via NPR). Riley Williams, the person charged with stealing the laptop, was placed under house arrested with ankle monitoring equipment while she awaited her trial. Pelosi herself wasn't hurt during the riots, as she was in a secure, sheltered location at the time (per AP News). Given the current political climate, it seems that as long as Pelosi remains in power, she might continue to be a target of violence for some extremists.