David DePape, the man accused of attacking former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband with a hammer and plotting to kidnap Pelosi herself, has just been found guilty on both counts. As part of his defence, DePape claimed he was radicalized on the internet (per Associated Press), and that he moved from being left-leaning to becoming a right wing conspiracy theorist, with Gamergate as the turning point, before a comment on a YouTube video about Donald Trump sparked his actions.
The crossover with the games industry's cultural nadir is that DePape claims Gamergate is what initially drew him into the right-leaning conspiracy theories that would eventually lead him to break into the Pelosis' house with a hammer and other equipment before attacking and seriously injuring Paul Pelosi (Nancy Pelosi was not in the house at the time).
DePape recounted to the court, at times crying, that at one time he was living in a garage without a toilet or shower, playing videogames for up to six hours a day. He testified that during this time, while looking up information about videogames online, he got interested in Gamergate.
Gamergate was pretty much an anti-feminist hate campaign that, from 2014 onwards, acquired huge online traction as a wider network of radical right-wing media figures and agitators such as Milo Yiannopoulos embraced members of the group, perpetuating Gamergate's rhetoric. It is considered something of a precursor to later online movements, many of which are right wing politically and anti-feminist.
After discussing Gamergate, DePape went on to reference conspiracy theories about Donald Trump, including the conspiracy theory originating with QAnon that holds that the US government is run by a cabal of satanic
Read more on pcgamer.com