One of the stranger theories to emerge in recent months is "pizzagate," wherein some right-wing conspiracists have suggested that a pedophile ring is being run out of the Comet Ping Pong pizza restaurant and all-ages venue in Washington, D.C. The theory has been repeatedly debunked but continues to gain momentum online. As a result of this, a man open fired on the restaurant over the weekend.
According to Buzzfeed News, a 28-year-old man named Edgar Maddison Welch entered the premises to, in his words, "self-investigate" the restaurant and music venue. He allegedly pointed a rifle at one of the restaurant's employees before firing a bullet in the restaurant.
Police were called to the scene and arrested Welch. In October, Welch was in the news for striking a 13-year-old with his car; she was airlifted to a nearby hospital. Welch also has an IMDb page, where he has credits as an actor, writer and miscellaneous crew person.
Comet Ping Pong has hosted concerts from a wide variety of local and touring bands, including Ian Svenonius's Chain and the Gang project, as well as the Coathangers, Juan Wauters, Mark Sultan, Lemuria and countless others.
The pizzagate conspiracy theory started when Wikileaks released emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign manager John Podesta. Apropos of nothing, theorists started to believe that Podesta was using pizza-related phrases as code for obtaining child prostitutes. The theory has snowballed to somehow implicate Clinton and the owners of Comet Ping Pong.
Again, the theory has been repeatedly debunked.
According to Buzzfeed News, a 28-year-old man named Edgar Maddison Welch entered the premises to, in his words, "self-investigate" the restaurant and music venue. He allegedly pointed a rifle at one of the restaurant's employees before firing a bullet in the restaurant.
Police were called to the scene and arrested Welch. In October, Welch was in the news for striking a 13-year-old with his car; she was airlifted to a nearby hospital. Welch also has an IMDb page, where he has credits as an actor, writer and miscellaneous crew person.
Comet Ping Pong has hosted concerts from a wide variety of local and touring bands, including Ian Svenonius's Chain and the Gang project, as well as the Coathangers, Juan Wauters, Mark Sultan, Lemuria and countless others.
The pizzagate conspiracy theory started when Wikileaks released emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign manager John Podesta. Apropos of nothing, theorists started to believe that Podesta was using pizza-related phrases as code for obtaining child prostitutes. The theory has snowballed to somehow implicate Clinton and the owners of Comet Ping Pong.
Again, the theory has been repeatedly debunked.
