Police in Washington, D.C. have arrested a man armed with an assault rifle who claimed he was investigating "#Pizzagate," the fictitious conspiracy theory about Hillary Clinton running a child sex ring inside a restaurant.
Metropolitan Police received a phone call about a man with a weapon who had entered Comet Ping Pong, a popular bar and music venue in the affluent Friendship Heights neighbourhood.
The suspect, 28-year-old Edgar Maddison Welch of Salisbury, North Carolina, walked into the restaurant and "pointed a firearm in the direction of an employee of the restaurant", police said in a statement.
The employee managed to get away and called police. Welch was taken into custody after he left the bar.
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During a post-arrest interview, the suspect admitted he came to the bar to "self-investigate 'Pizza Gate'" police said.
#Pizzagate refers to a fake news story that falsely claimed Hillary Clinton, aided by campaign chairman John Podesta, kidnapped, molested and trafficked children in the backrooms of a pizza restaurant called Comet Ping Pong in Washington, D.C.
Dozens of fabricated articles on #pizzagate and the child trafficking ring appeared on Facebook and conspiracy theory websites such as The New Nationalist and The Vigilant Citizen.
The New York Times debunked the story after the owner of Comet Ping Pong, James Alefantis, and his employees started getting abusive messages and death threats on their social media accounts.
The rumors also spread on Reddit, which eventually led management to intervene by closing the dedicated subreddit, citing problems with users posting an individual's private information, which violates the platform's terms and conditions.
Alefantis, owner of Comet Ping Pong, released a statement on Sunday night denying what he called the "malicious and utterly false accusations" and said the company hoped to resume normal operations within a few days.
"I hope that those involved in fanning these flames will take a moment to contemplate what happened here today, and stop promoting these falsehoods right away," Alefantis said in the statement.
The Associated Press contributed reporting.
Topics Hillary Clinton Reddit
