Photo shows DePape filming a nude wedding, not the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack

A recent Instagram post juxtaposes two photos that have appeared in recent news coverage of the Oct. 28 attack on Paul Pelosi at the San Francisco home he shares with his wife, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. 

David DePape has been charged with assaulting Paul Pelosi and with attempting to kidnap Nancy Pelosi. Two photos of him appear in the Instagram post. The left image shows "Paul’s friend," the post said. "Right is cameraman from J6," referring to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

We found both photos using a reverse image search. They’re both archived on The Associated Press’ website. 

Featured Fact-check

Facebook posts

stated on March 24, 2024 in a Facebook post

Nickelodeon's splat logo design is based on the shape of Epstein Island.

In the photo on the left, DePape — who Paul Pelosi has said was a stranger, not a friend, according to authorities — is shown in Berkeley, California, on Dec. 13, 2013.

In the photo on the right, DePape is holding a video camera, but he’s not filming the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. He wasn’t even in Washington, D.C., when the photo was taken. Rather, he’s filming "the nude wedding of Gypsy Taub outside City Hall" in San Francisco on Dec. 19, 2013.   

DePape was known in Berkeley "as a pro-nudity activist who had picketed naked at protests against local ordinances requiring people to be clothed in public," the AP said. 

We rate claims this photo shows him filming the Capitol attack False.