Gunman At DC Pizza Parlor Was 'Investigating' Right-Wing Conspiracy 'Pizzagate' Lie

[GMDino]

We might need a "Fake news made a guy do something..." subforum for the next four years.

http://crooksandliars.com/2016/12/gunman-dc-pizza-parlor-was-investigating

Quote:On Sunday, a man with a rifle showed up at a Washington, DC pizza restaurant, threatening one employee before shooting his gun into the floor a couple of times.


It turns out he believed the lies perpetuated on Reddit and Alex Jones' site about "Pizzagate", as echoed by National Security Adviser-to-be Michael Flynn about the restaurant. According to their lies, it was really a front for a child sex-trafficking ring run by Hillary Clinton and John Podesta.

And this guy, Edgar Maddison Welch, believed it. He believed it so much, this happened:

Quote:A North Carolina man was arrested Sunday after he walked into a popular pizza restaurant in Northwest Washington carrying an assault rifle and fired one or more shots, D.C. police said. The man told police he had come to the restaurant to “self-investigate” a false election-related conspiracy theory involving Hillary Clinton that spread online during her presidential campaign.

The incident caused panic, with several businesses going into lockdown as police swarmed the neighborhood after receiving the call shortly before 3 p.m.
Police said 28-year-old Edgar Maddison Welch, of Salisbury, N.C., walked in the front door of Comet Ping Pong and pointed a firearm in the direction of a restaurant employee. The employee was able to flee and notify police. Police said Welch proceeded to discharge the rifle inside the restaurant; they believe all other occupants had fled when Welch began shooting.

Welch has been charged with assault with a dangerous weapon. Police said there were no reported injuries.

Fortunately, no one was hurt. But the lies are still spinning. The newest one is that he never confessed to such a thing at all, but instead it's all a -- you guessed it -- false flag.

Mike Cernovich, one of the worst purveyors of lies and spin on behalf of the extreme right wing, offered this:

Quote:There is zero evidence connecting the gunman (who gave no statement) and#pizzagate. None. This is more fake news.
— Mike Cernovich

Here's some of what Cernovich and his Reddit pals did ahead of this incident:

Quote:↓ Story continues below ↓

The restaurant’s owner and employees were threatened on social media in the days before the election after fake news stories circulated claiming that then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her campaign chief were running a child sex ring from the restaurant’s backrooms. Even Michael Flynn, a retired general whom President-elect Trump has tapped to advise him on national security, shared stories about another anti-Clinton conspiracy theory involving pedophilia. None of them were true. But the fake stories and threats persisted, some even aimed at children of Comet Ping Pong employees and patrons. The restaurant’s owner was forced to contact the FBI, local police, Facebook and other social-media platforms in an effort to remove the articles.

I expect there will be many more lies, many more nuts with guns ready to "defend" the lies and lying liars, and of course, the top liar will be residing in the White House.

It's going to be a long four years.