‘Pizzagate’ Never Ends: Arson Suspected At Conspiracy Theorist Hotspot

In this Dec. 5, 2016, photo, the front door of Comet Ping Pong pizza shop, in Washington, Monday, Dec. 5, 2016. For conspiracy theorists, "pizzagate" didn't end when a man brought a gun to a Washington restaurant in ... In this Dec. 5, 2016, photo, the front door of Comet Ping Pong pizza shop, in Washington, Monday, Dec. 5, 2016. For conspiracy theorists, "pizzagate" didn't end when a man brought a gun to a Washington restaurant in a misguided attempt to rescue child sex slaves, instead, the shooting fired up further belief in the baseless claims. On blogs, YouTube channels and internet radio shows devoted to conspiracy theories, some see Edgar Maddison Welch’s as the latest “false flag.” That’s a term for a cover-up or distraction orchestrated by the government or other powerful figures. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Investigators say that a small fire at Comet Ping Pong Pizza in Washington D.C., the site of a conspiracy theory-motivated shooting in 2016, was set intentionally and are hunting down the alleged arsonist.

According to a local Fox affiliate, employees were able to quell the blaze before firefighters arrived.

In December 2016, Edgar Maddison Welch stormed the shop with an AR-15 style rifle and fired off three shots due to a (fully debunked) conspiracy theory that then-candidate Hillary Clinton and other Democrats were running a child sex trafficking ring in the restaurant’s basement.

Latest News

Notable Replies

  1. Avatar for outis outis says:

    In a period of very serious craziness, the mere existence of this absurd conspiracy theory shows us how challenging (probably impossible) it is to try to reason with Trump’s base.

  2. Times have changed. At the place I used to work at, we called them grease fires…

  3. Avatar for outis outis says:

    The difference here may be the statement that the fire appears to have been set intentionally. A former co-worker liked to call this sort of thing Jewish Lightning, which I presume was okay since he was Jewish. (It also presumes that the business in question isn’t doing particularly well, which may or may not apply here.)

  4. Avatar for tpr tpr says:

    Someday we’re going to learn that Pizzagate started as an innocent viral marketing campaign, and got warped into the shady trafficking story by one of the deranged nutjobs that the GOP cultivates as a faux-electorate.

    I kind of want to visit if I ever end up in the area, but I don’t want to die as a bystander to some fringe lunatic acting out because he’s off his meds and he saw a black person talking on television or something.

  5. OK, OK, but did they rescue the children?

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

38 more replies

Participants

Avatar for system1 Avatar for lionel_hutz Avatar for squirreltown Avatar for losamigos Avatar for tjirish44 Avatar for murgatroid Avatar for borisjimbo Avatar for donnyyoung Avatar for left_in_washington_state Avatar for airportman Avatar for commanderogg Avatar for fiftygigs Avatar for darrtown Avatar for dommyluc Avatar for just_observing Avatar for swell Avatar for tpr Avatar for edys Avatar for sydneyp22 Avatar for bitinginsect Avatar for timorwig Avatar for outis Avatar for rascal_crone Avatar for captain_america

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: