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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMan Motivated by Pizzagate Conspiracy Theory Arrested in D.C. Gunfire
Last edited Mon Dec 5, 2016, 04:36 AM - Edit history (1)
WASHINGTON, D.C. A man fired a rifle on Sunday inside a Washington pizza restaurant that has been subjected to harassment based on false stories tying it to child abuse, the police said. No one was hurt, and the man was arrested.
The man, Edgar M. Welch, 28, of Salisbury, N.C., told the police that he had come to the restaurant, Comet Ping Pong, in northwest Washington, to self-investigate what is being called Pizzagate, an online conspiracy theory asserting, with no evidence, that the restaurant is somehow tied to a child abuse ring. He entered the restaurant shortly before 3 p.m. with a rifle and fired it at least once inside, the police said.
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The misinformation campaign about Comet began when the email account of John D. Podesta, an aide to Hillary Clinton, was hacked and his emails were published by WikiLeaks during the presidential campaign. Days before the election, users on the online message board 4chan noticed that one of Mr. Podestas leaked emails contained communications with James Alefantis, Comets owner, discussing a fund-raiser for Mrs. Clinton.
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Sabrina Ousmaal, owner of a French restaurant called Terasol, which is across the street from Comet, said that other businesses in the area had also been targeted by threats and that the response from the authorities so far had been insufficient.
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/12/05/us/pizzagate-comet-ping-pong-edgar-maddison-welch.html
Cha
(297,733 posts)What untold damage has the Russian hacking done besides helping to get the sexual predatory, climate change denier into the WH.
Thank You, SunSeeker
SunSeeker
(51,728 posts)The emails themselves gave absolutely no basis for this conspiracy theory.
Cha
(297,733 posts)these poor people are collateral damage.
suffragette
(12,232 posts)Scary times with scary people taking bizarre action based on the online rumor mill.
SunSeeker
(51,728 posts)But since GD doesn't require exactly copies of headlines, I exchanged Washington for DC. DC is divided up into geographical sections, NW, SW, NE, etc.
LisaM
(27,840 posts)I haven't read the stolen emails - and wouldn't - but clearly they went after them with glee.