The Comet Ping Pong Gunman Answers Our Reporters Questions

[brooklynite]

Last edited Thu Dec 8, 2016, 12:13 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: The New York Times

On Wednesday, I spoke with Mr. Welch, who goes by his middle name, Maddison, by videoconference at an old hospital building adjacent to the citys jail. In his first news media interview since his arrest, Mr. Welch appeared downcast and at times distracted as he answered questions for 45 minutes, the maximum time allowed by the jail. I just wanted to do some good and went about it the wrong way, he said.

What was his original plan?
Mr. Welch, the father of two daughters, said he woke up Sunday morning and told his family he had some things to do. He left Smallsbury, a nickname for his hometown, for the 350-mile drive to Washington with the intention of giving the restaurant a closer look and then returning home. He wanted to shine some light on it. As he made his way to Washington, he felt his heart breaking over the thought of innocent people suffering. Once he got to the pizzeria, there was an abrupt change of plans. Mr. Welch would not say why he took a military-style assault rifle inside the restaurant and fired it. According to court documents, Mr. Welch said he had come armed to help rescue the children.

What did he think when he discovered there were no children at the pizzeria?
The intel on this wasnt 100 percent, he said. However, he refused to dismiss outright the claims in the online articles, conceding only that there were no children inside that dwelling. He also said that child slavery was a worldwide phenomenon.

Where did he learn about the fake news involving Comet?
He said it was through word of mouth. After recently having internet service installed at his house, he was really able to look into it. He said that substantial evidence from a combination of sources had left him with the impression something nefarious was happening. He said one article on the subject led to another and then another. He said he did not like the term fake news, believing it was meant to diminish stories outside the mainstream media, which he does not completely trust. He also said he was not political. While once a registered Republican, he did not vote for Donald J. Trump. He also did not vote for Mrs. Clinton. But he is praying that Mr. Trump takes the country in the right direction.

Read more: http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/12/07/us/edgar-welch-comet-pizza-fake-news.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0&referer=http://www.nytimes.com/

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Notwithstanding his wife and children, I think the prosecutor needs to ruin his life to send a message to the people responding to Trump's hostility to his opponents; maximum sentence, no plea bargaining

[jpak]

1. This moran has a moran for a lawyer

What an idiot

[Afromania]

2. The intel wasn't 100%.

................

[mercuryblues]

18. military style weapons

military style jargon, yet to chicken shit to actually join the military. Instead he goes into a family restaurant and starts shooting with unarmed parents and kids there. Too fucking chicken shit to go to a shooting range and randomly shooting.

A volunteer fire fighter who was let go because he failed to show up for calls. Too chicken shit to show up to put out fires.

Wants to be a hero.

[LonePirate]

3. We can only hope his idiocy serves as a lesson to the millions of others duped by fake news.

[wordpix]

13. and that schools require papers/projects where credible sources only are cited

Most teachers do require only credible sources for papers and projects but certainly, it should be stressed in every class. This moran never got the lesson.

[ToxMarz]

4. He goes by his middle name Maddison

I hope every one in prison refers to him only as Edgar

[IronLionZion]

5. impression something nefarious was happening.

"There's something going on" is as much the Trump slogan as "Make America Great Again".

Even though this dude didn't vote for him, Trump is the answer to all our questions.

Trump and his people have fostered a culture of hate and spread misinformation and distrust that leads to violence.

F people like this

[MrModerate]

6. He's clearly shooting for a diminished capacity defense. n/t

[gordianot]

7. He woke up and found himself floating in the toilet.

To be fair we humans have all said and done things that were wrong based on bad assumptions and false information. This is a case of truly epic proportions. I doubt this person has any conscience and may require physical incarceration to make the point.

[lagomorph777]

10. "May require...incarceration?"

He is a menace to society and should be locked up until he is too old to carry a weapon.

[gordianot]

12. Justice in America is slippery.

You can hope but seldom does it work out. Obviously his profile allowed him to shoot up a Pizzeria and survive, and same profile will protect him in court.

[lagomorph777]

14. His profile would be horizontal right now, had he been brown.

[gordianot]

15. Exactly

[RKP5637]

27. Yep, he had a gun, was brown, so we killed him on the spot, a terrorist. In this guy's

case, oh, he just misinterpreted what he read, meant no harm.

[graegoyle]

8. He's just keeping it one hundred.

'Lots' of 'sources' 'weren't 100 percent'.

How many people take a rifle to 'look into' a business? Show of hands?

[DK504]

9. Needs to look in a mirror

" ... he felt his “heart breaking over the thought of innocent people suffering.”

Is this moran serious? He's worried about "innocent" people? Did he look at or think of his kids before he voted? He obviously doesn't giver a damn about innocents.

[Canoe52]

11. "The intel on this wasn't 100%" ???

Poor guy also thinks he's some kind of special ops.

I disagree with the opinion expressed that his life should be ruined, some kind of punishment yes, I personally like the idea of him having to wear a sign for a year that says I AM A MORAN - ask me why (mis-spelled on purpose) oh and definitely take away his gunz.

[lagomorph777]

16. No he should wear a sign that says "Federal Bureau of Prisons" for 30 years

He shot up a restaurant for no reason at all. Is this complicated?

[2naSalit]

17. It's amazing

how many "used to be special ops" guys are running around with big guns when they have never seen a day of service to anyone but themselves. And they always claim they are doing something for the welfare of others when they pull their stunts.

[BumRushDaShow]

19. "he did not vote for Donald J. Trump"

LIAR.

All the so-called "media" pushing this crazy CT shit is part of Drumpf's propaganda machine.

[world wide wally]

24. Agreed

I think he is lobbying for Leader of Trumps Brownshirts or another cabinet position

[csziggy]

20. I wonder what radio shows he listened to on the way to Washington?

The article says the trip was 350 miles - did he drive the entire way with only the voices in his head getting him worked up? Or did he listen to Alex Jones - "He has listened to Alex Jones, whose radio show traffics in conspiracy theories and who once said that Mrs. Clinton “has personally murdered and chopped up” children."?

[RKP5637]

28. On his show some nights ago he was totally wound up about Clinton / Podesta and pedophiles. n/t

[csziggy]

33. That's why I suspect this gunman listened to right wing radio on his 350 mile drive

Which just helped him work himself into a frenzy over this imagined evil.

Protection of free speech should not include protecting malicious lies.

[Loki]

21. Why is someone like Alex Jones allowed to walk?

They convey this filth and then sit back while other's take these profound lies to the ultimate deadly fruition. The only way this stops is if we put in place, and insist on, consequences for spreading lies that could cause loss of life or danger. This isn't free speech, this is hate speech.

[RKP5637]

30. Exactly!!! His show has nothing to do with free speech, it's mostly all hate speech and he sits back

and collects the dollars. The US really needs to think about where it's headed with this crap spewing.

[Sunlei]

22. Republicans fooled another internet newbie who believed, everything online & in his email is true.

Republicans allowed the anti-Obama and anti-Hillary crap 'news' to thrive, they even backed & funded many of those places. like their dead buddy Breibart, the life of the party at republican events.

[ananda]

23. This is exactly why we're all screwed!

People like this have no rational ability to hear
facts or logic.

[RKP5637]

32. And IMO there are millions like him in the US. n/t

[YOHABLO]

25. Two key phrases stuck out to me in this article.

1"...he took a military-style assault rifle inside the restaurant.."


2."..recently having internet service installed at his house.."



This guy obviously fits a stereotype congruous with so many angry and deranged white males.

[Politicub]

26. Wouldn't surprise me a bit if Trump

swoops in and pays for his defense.

Why? It will encourage others to use violence as means to an end.

[lark]

31. drumpf is more show than go.

Just like he didn't step in to pay legal fees for issues created by his deplorables during his campaign, he won't step up here either. They have already fired Flynn's son for spreading the lie, so would be hugely surprised is he takes any supportive action.

[lark]

29. His ass can sit in a jail cell for so long it grows there.

[bpj62]

34. Assault Style Weapon

In addition to the AR-15 he had a high capacity magizine attached to it as well as a large caliber handgun. When they searched his car they found a shotgun. Excuse my naivety here but one generally does recon work in a subtle way so that they do not draw attention to themselves. This guy came ready for some action.

My genuine concern is that these fake news stories are going to get someone killed. The right has some truly touched people out there and they are armed. I hope Comet Ping Pong Pizza sues the crap out of the people thst originated this story because it has put them in danger. The idiots on the right called it Pizzagate.

[yardwork]

35. Why won't anybody say the words "radical Christian terrorist????"

/sarcasm

Personally, I think this man has mental health issues, exacerbated by his listening to hate radio and hanging out on fake news websites.

If he were Muslim, we'd be hearing a lot of screeching right now. Those usual suspects are silent about this white Christian man.

[KT2000]

36. Wonder why he shot through the floor

when he thought there were tunnels holding children down there.

[wideglide103]

37. Wonder why he shot through the floor

Why didn't the cops shoot him? If he'd have black he would have been dead, many times over.

[KT2000]

38. That's for sure! n/t

[SpankMe]

39. I bet the white guy gets off light.

If a black man with a powerful rifle went into a business and fired off a shot, he'd have been considered a threat and gunned down by police. But, Mr. Welch was given every opportunity to surrender and walk out un-killed.

I'm sorry for invoking race in this case as it isn't really relevant. But, it is a thought that I have when crazy armed white guys survive a police encounter while unarmed black men do not.

What's infuriating about this case is that Welch and others believed this story, but then upon being shown it was sourced form a fake news article, they still say that it "needs further looking into" because "where there's smoke, there's fire" or that it's true until proven otherwise. This is a sense of reasoning and logic that has no validity and that's hard to refute because it's so crazy and stubborn.

Pundits keep saying that the divisions in America are due to both sides being dismissive of the other and not making an effort to listen to the other side and understand their point of view. Conservatives are bad for vilifying liberals for wanting expanded health care, LGBT rights, abortion rights, and on and on because we believe these things help people and that we're righting some wrongs. Conservatives aren't listening to our reasons for advocating for these things and instead say that we're doing it because we "want to destroy America".

But, conservatives believe that Hillary Clinton is operating a child sex ring out of an underground bunker at a D.C. pizza restaurant and that she has chopped up live children - and yet *WE* are the ones being close-minded for vilifying them and not trying to understand their point of view?

The reality is that it's mostly one sided: the conservatives are vilifying us for believing in normal things. We're vilifying conservatives for actually being villains!