Elon Musk tweeted unfounded claims on Sunday morning about the violent attack against Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s husband.
“There is a tiny possibility there might be more to this story than meets the eye,” wrote Musk in a reply to a tweet from Hillary Clinton, who called the attack against 82-year-old Paul Pelosi “shocking” but “not surprising.”
Musk included a link to a local news website called the Santa Monica Observer, which has a history of publishing false articles, according to the Los Angeles Times. By late Sunday morning, the tweet by Musk had been deleted.
Musk, who became the head of Twitter this week in a controversial $44 billion deal, was swiftly condemned by local leaders.
“Your town square is going to become the town garbage dump if you don’t recant this reprehensible, untrue post,” wrote Congresswoman Jackie Speier, who represents most of San Mateo County and parts of San Francisco.
“It only took 72 hours for Elon Musk, as Twitter CEO, to start posting conspiracy theories,” tweeted state Sen. Scott Wiener. “I wonder how long it’ll take him to reactivate Kanye, Trump & other toxic accounts.”
A spokesperson for Pelosi did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Musk’s tweet. The San Francisco Police Department declined to comment.
The tweet by Musk comes as the tech mogul faces criticism for his proposals regarding Twitter’s free speech policies. On Thursday, Musk tried to quell those concerns, stating that he had bought the social media company to “have a common digital town square” with a “wide range of beliefs” being debated.
Musk’s tweet came mere hours after Pelosi released a statement about Friday’s attack at her San Francisco home, saying it had left her family feeling “heartbroken and traumatized.”
Pelosi’s husband’s skull was fractured and he suffered serious injuries to his hands and right arm after a man broke into the couple’s Pacific Heights house. According to Pelosi’s statement, her husband is continuing to improve.
“Sadly, a violent man broke into our family home yesterday morning, demanded to confront me and brutally attacked my husband Paul,” the statement read. “Our children, our grandchildren and I are heartbroken and traumatized by the life-threatening attack on our Pop.”
At around 11 a.m. on Sunday, the Speaker of the House was seen leaving her home with a convoy of cars and heavily armed guards. She did not respond to requests for comment.
Pelosi just exited her Pacific Heights home. Didn’t respond to any questions from reporters here. Has a convoy of cars and heavily armed guards with her. https://t.co/ROYhD5PaTc pic.twitter.com/G8mDtTXJ9w
— Gabriel Lorenzo Greschler (@ggreschler) October 30, 2022
San Francisco’s top law enforcement officials later credited a 911 dispatcher’s intuition for recognizing that Pelosi’s husband was in danger.
It remained unclear on Sunday exactly how Pelosi’s husband managed to call 911 during the encounter. Police dispatch records from Friday night, however, have begun to shed light on some of what he told police.
The 911 caller “stated that there’s a male in the home and that he’s going to wait for his wife,” a dispatcher aired over the police radio around 2:28 a.m., dispatch records show. The dispatcher added that the caller “doesn’t know who the male is, but he advised that his name is David and that he is a friend.”
The dispatcher then added that the caller “sounded somewhat confused.”
Something in that call appeared to tip off a 911 dispatcher that something was wrong, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins told CNN.
“It’s really thanks to Mr. Pelosi having the ability to make that call,” San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins told the news organization, “and truly the attention and instincts of that dispatcher to realize that something was wrong in that situation and to make the police call a priority. They got there within two minutes to respond to this situation.”
Police have arrested 42-year-old Bay Area resident David DePape, who is the owner of a conspiracy-filled blog that includes the false assertion by former President Donald Trump that he won the 2020 election.
DePape was booked on suspicion of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, battery with serious injury, injuring an elder and burglary, according to San Francisco Sheriff’s Department records. Charges are expected to be filed on Monday.
