WASHINGTON — A 28-year-old North Carolina man armed with an assault rifle who police say traveled to a popular D.C. pizzeria to “self-investigate” a fake news story about a child sex ring being run there by Hillary Clinton campaign operatives is due to make his first court appearance Monday.
Edgar Maddison Welch, of Salisbury North Carolina, is accused of carrying an AR-15 assault rifle into the Comet Ping Pong on Connecticut Avenue in Northwest Sunday afternoon, threatening an employee and firing shots inside the restaurant. Employees and customers fled the restaurant and no one was injured, but the incident shut down parts of Connecticut Avenue and led to a heavy police response.
Welch, who has been charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, will face a judge in D.C. Superior Court Monday afternoon. In addition to the assault rifle, police said they recovered a Colt .38 handgun, a shotgun and a folding knife.
The restaurant was closed Monday. Employees inside the restaurant described a “bizarre,” terrifying ordeal.
Bartender Lee Elmore told news outlets that people in the restaurant started to panic as the man walked to the back of the restaurant.
“One of the hosts runs up and says did you see that guy? He had a big gun,” Elmore said. “His demeanor was bizarre, in that if you come in to a place to eat, you ask for a host or grab a seat at the bar,” Elmore said. “Didn’t make any eye contact, didn’t talk with anybody.”
The owner of the pizza shop said the incident shows there are consequences to spurious online conspiracy theories that intensified during the presidential election and continue to spread on social media.
The restaurant attracted national attention after fake news stories stated that Clinton and her campaign chief ran a child sex ring out of the restaurant.
“We should all condemn the efforts of certain people to spread malicious and utterly false accusations about Comet Ping Pong, a venerated D.C. institution,” restaurant owner James Alefantis said in a statement Sunday evening. “Let me state unequivocally: These stories are completely and entirely false, and there is no basis in fact to any of them. What happened today demonstrates that promoting false and reckless conspiracy theories comes with consequences.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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