# Comet Pizza incident. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 5, 2016, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comet-pizza-incident/773955 "2016-12-05T19:39:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2016, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comet-pizza-incident/773955/41 "2016-12-08T04:41:08Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > You have to wonder how this would have gone down if he was black and walked into a Pizza place with an automatic weapon “to investigate a crime”. Or brown, especially with a Muslim name. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKGZnB41_e4) ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2016, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comet-pizza-incident/773955/42 "2016-12-08T06:10:22Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Too bad she didn’t get that permit to make it a legal child sex ring operating out of a pizza parlor. Damn government. As a believer in small government, I don’t see why she should have to get a frickin’ permit. Whatever happened to freedom and liberty and enterprise? Damn red tape tying people up in knots. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2016, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comet-pizza-incident/773955/43 "2016-12-08T14:15:31Z")
Of interest: Edgar M. Welch [talked to the NY Times](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/07/us/edgar-welch-comet-pizza-fake-news.html). Article is more like a brief summary of the conversation rather than an interview transcript. It’s a very short article and there’s very little that we don’t already know, but to summarize: [ul] [li]Father of two daughters.[/li][li]Just recently had internet service installed.[/li][li]Claims he’s apolitical and not a CTist, but believes 9/11 should be “re-examined.”[/li][li]Intended to give the restaurant a “closer look” and wanted to “shine some light on it.”[/li][li]Has not admitted he was wrong.[/li][li]Does not trust the mainstream media.[/li][li]Did not vote for Trump (or Hillary for that matter).[/li][li]Admits listening to Alex Jones, but also seems to have at least an inkling Jones is batshit crazy (“He’s a bit eccentric”).[/li][li]Became religious in the “last few years.”[/li][li]“I regret how I handled the situation,” he said.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2016, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comet-pizza-incident/773955/44 "2016-12-09T17:22:06Z")
A very sympathetic profile of a guy who would be either dead or thrown in a hole never to see sunlight again if he weren’t White. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2016, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comet-pizza-incident/773955/45 "2016-12-09T17:41:58Z")
I guess one of the websites promoting this story has finally been taken down ? The FB person that posted the links I saw is screaming like a branded calf and posting incoherent nonsense about “censorship” and how one of the last remaining real investigative “news” site is under attack. “Oh, brother. Close Sesame…” ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2016, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comet-pizza-incident/773955/46 "2016-12-09T18:41:23Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > “Damn, must have been a decoy door I kicked in.” Maybe the oven tilts back, like the giant drier on Breaking Bad. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2016, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comet-pizza-incident/773955/47 "2016-12-09T18:52:08Z")
I have a relative who sends me links to the Alex Jones stuff sometimes. I don’t reply anymore, but I sometimes skim thru them. He is actual quiet good at what he does. His pattern seems to be to cite the conspiracy stuff as if it were fact and at the end say “is this true? I don’t know I wasn’t there. someone should investigate”. That gives him wiggle room to say “I never said there was a sex ring there”. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2016, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comet-pizza-incident/773955/48 "2016-12-09T18:55:03Z")
Anyone who wants to tell me that the left and the right are both equally polarized and stupid needs to tell me what the left wing equivalent of this nonsense is. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comet-pizza-incident/773955/49 "2016-12-10T02:48:56Z")
[‘Pizzagate’ shooting just a false flag](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_GUNMAN_PIZZA_SHOP_CONSPIRACY_THEORIES_NCOL-?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-12-09-13-57-06)![ > [@](#): > > On blogs, YouTube channels and internet radio shows devoted to conspiracy theories, the arrest of Edgar Maddison Welch on Sunday was just the latest “false flag,” a term for a cover-up or distraction orchestrated by the government or other powerful figures. The persistent belief in the false-flag theory shows just how stubborn fabricated conspiracies can be, according to experts. > [@](#): > > Fetzer and other conspiracy theorists seized on the fact that Welch had dabbled in movie acting as a giveaway that his visit to the restaurant was staged. Welch wrote a short film and appeared as a victim in a slasher movie alongside a friend, Kathy Sue Holtorf, who told the AP that Welch “never wanted to become an actor.” > > Blogger Joachim Hagopian, a false-flag proponent, told the AP that conspirators look for “a patsy or stooge” to pose as a lone gunman with an assault rifle. Welch, he said, “fits the pattern” with his acting background. > > “He’s got an IMDB (Internet Movie Database) profile,” Hagopian said. ](‘PIZZAGATE’ SHOOTING JUST A FALSE FLAG):rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Tread](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Tread](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tread)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comet-pizza-incident/773955/50 "2016-12-10T12:15:45Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > . Anybody can go on the internet read crap and buy a gun, yet you still need a license to sell real estate. > > . No you don’t, You can buy or sell real estate without a license. I have done both. In the past 3 years, I have bought a house and land, as well as selling a piece of land. Now as doing it as a profession you must be licensed, just as selling firearms you must have an FFL. Buying either you need no license, there aren’t a lot of things you need a license to purchase. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comet-pizza-incident/773955/51 "2016-12-12T01:16:35Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > You have to wonder how this would have gone down if he was black and walked into a Pizza place with an automatic weapon “to investigate a crime”. Or brown, especially with a Muslim name. If a Muslim had done it, SDMB liberals would either ignore it or shout even louder, “Islam is a religion of peace, and the real danger is white Christians.” ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comet-pizza-incident/773955/52 "2016-12-12T02:02:13Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > A very sympathetic profile of a guy who would be either dead or thrown in a hole never to see sunlight again if he weren’t White. What kind of jail time is he looking at? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comet-pizza-incident/773955/53 "2016-12-12T02:29:04Z")
> [@tim-n-va](#): > > I have a relative who sends me links to the Alex Jones stuff sometimes. I don’t reply anymore, but I sometimes skim thru them. He is actual quiet good at what he does. His pattern seems to be to cite the conspiracy stuff as if it were fact and at the end say “is this true? I don’t know I wasn’t there. someone should investigate”. That gives him wiggle room to say “I never said there was a sex ring there”. It’s going to be interesting to see how Alex Jones handles the next 4 years. His fame has risen over the last 8 years so most people think he’s an anti-left nut. Before that he was all 911 was an inside job Bush new world order Bilderburg Cheney is the devil. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comet-pizza-incident/773955/54 "2016-12-12T15:02:18Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > What kind of jail time is he looking at? If he were Muslim he would be lucky if he went through our court system. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comet-pizza-incident/773955/55 "2016-12-12T15:46:38Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > If a Muslim had done it, SDMB liberals would either ignore it or shout even louder, “Islam is a religion of peace, and the real danger is white Christians.” I’m sure that’s the way conservatives imagine it, and perhaps there would be one or two that would say stuff like that, but otherwise this is imaginary finger pointing and a rather poor job of distraction. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comet-pizza-incident/773955/56 "2016-12-12T16:12:02Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > What kind of jail time is he looking at? IANAL, but looking at the statute he could get 10 years for assault with a dangerous weapon and five years for the gun. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comet-pizza-incident/773955/57 "2016-12-12T17:24:11Z")
Can’t find an online citation that doesn’t require registration, but the Washington Post Express reported: [QUOTE=Excerpt from article] More than 2,000 people said on Facebook that they’re going to this weekend’s “Stand With Comet” event to support the pizza place and other neighborhood restaurants targeted by fake news fanatics. John McKeel walked out of Comet Ping Pong Friday carrying “The Smoky,” with mushrooms and bacon; and “The Jimmy,” topped with meatballs. But McKeel wasn’t just coming for the food. “I had to come today” to support the restaurant, said McKeel, 39, of Alexandria, Virginia. The Facebook page urged people to support not only Comet Ping Pong but other nearby stores that have been subjected to harassing and threatening online comments and phone calls since the fake news stories began spreading. “If they run out of dough today, that’d be a good thing,” said Erick Sanchez, the event’s organizer. So many came out Friday that people waited an hour and a half for a table and carry-out took 45 minutes. Other local restaurants spontaneously sent over wait staff to help. Others sent food for employees. The restaurant also is getting support online, where a GoFundMe page set up to help it pay for legal expenses and extra security had passed $15,000, with a goal of $28,000. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comet-pizza-incident/773955/58 "2017-06-22T22:12:12Z")
> [@](#): > > The North Carolina man who commandeered a pizza restaurant at gunpoint in Northwest Washington to investigate a false Internet rumor of a pedophile ring there was sentenced to four years in in prison Thursday. > > Edgar Maddison Welch, 28, who apologized to his victims and residents in the nation’s capital last week in a court filing, asked for an 18-month sentence for charging into Comet Ping Pong last December carrying a fully loaded AR-15 military-style rifle and revolver seeking to investigate a viral Internet rumor known as “Pizzagate.” Prosecutors had sought a 4½ -year prison term. > **[‘Pizzagate’ gunman sentenced to four years in prison, as prosecutors urged...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/pizzagate-gunman-sentenced-to-four-years-in-prison-as-prosecutors-urged-judge-to-deter-vigilante-justice/2017/06/22/a10db598-550b-11e7-ba90-f5875b7d1876_story.html)** > > Comet Ping Pong raider apologized to restaurant, Washingtonians, says he was foolish, reckless, mistaken It’s unfortunate they never went after the people who were posting this garbage online. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comet-pizza-incident/773955/59 "2017-06-22T22:52:29Z")
It wasn’t just online trolls. Alex Jones was hot on the trail along with other fake news empires. Michael Flynn and his son, Michael Flynn Jr, were also keen to pass on disinformation last November. I’m going to quote this section from wiki: [Pizzagate conspiracy theory - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizzagate_conspiracy_theory#Michael_T._Flynn_and_Michael_Flynn_Jr). > [@Wiki summary of the Flynns involvement in promoting #pizzagate](#): > > Michael T. Flynn at a Donald Trump campaign rally in Phoenix, Arizona > Michael T. Flynn, who tweeted conspiratorial accusations about Hillary Clinton and John Podesta. Flynn’s son was forced out of the Trump transition team after posting similar tweets.[82] > > In November 2016, Michael T. Flynn, then on President-Elect Donald Trump’s transition team and Trump’s designate for National Security Advisor, posted multiple tweets on Twitter containing conspiratorial material regarding Hillary Clinton alleging that Clinton’s campaign manager, John Podesta, drank the blood and bodily fluids of other humans in Satanic rituals, which Politico says “soon morphed into the ‘#pizzagate’ conspiracy theory involving Comet Ping Pong”.[83] On November 2, 2016, Flynn tweeted a link to a story with unfounded accusations and wrote, “U decide - NYPD Blows Whistle on New Hillary Emails: Money Laundering, Sex Crimes w Children, etc…MUST READ!” The tweet was shared by over 9,000 people, but was deleted from Flynn’s account some time between December 12–13, 2016.[79] > > After the shooting incident at Comet Ping Pong, Michael Flynn Jr., Michael T. Flynn’s son and also a member of Trump’s transition team, tweeted: > > ``` > Until #Pizzagate proven to be false, it'll remain a story. The left seems to forget #PodestaEmails and the many 'coincidences' tied to it.[84][85][86] > > ``` > > On December 6, 2016, Flynn Jr. was forced out of Trump’s transition team.[87] Spokesman Jason Miller did not identify the reason for Flynn Jr.'s dismissal; however, The New York Times reported that other officials had confirmed it was related to the tweet.[82] Sources mentioned in the quote: Kessler, Glenn (December 6, 2016). “”‘Pizzagate’ rumours falsely link death of sex-worker advocate to nonexistent Clinton probe"". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 18, 2016. > **[‘Pizzagate’ rumors falsely link death of sex-worker advocate to nonexistent...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/12/06/another-false-pizzagate-tale-the-death-of-a-sex-worker-activist-in-haiti/)** > > Social media is spreading a false story about the Clintons and a young woman who died in Haiti in November. “Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones backs off ‘Pizzagate’ claims”. The Washington Post. Retrieved March 26, 2017. > **[Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones backs off ‘Pizzagate’ claims](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/conspiracy-theorist-alex-jones-backs-off-pizzagate-claims/2017/03/24/6f0246fe-10cd-11e7-ab07-07d9f521f6b5_story.html)** > > In a rare apology, he expresses contrition to District restaurant targeted by gunman. Shelbourne, Mallory (March 25, 2017). “Infowars’ Alex Jones apologizes for pushing ‘Pizzagate’ conspiracy theory”. The Hill. Retrieved March 26, 2017. [https://origin-nyi.thehill.com/homenews/325761-infowars-alex-jones-apologizes-for-pushing-pizzagate-conspiracy-theory](https://origin-nyi.thehill.com/homenews/325761-infowars-alex-jones-apologizes-for-pushing-pizzagate-conspiracy-theory) Rosenberg, Matthew (December 6, 2016). “Trump Fires Senior Adviser’s Son From Transition for Sharing Fake News”. The New York Times. Retrieved December 7, 2016. [https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/06/us/politics/michael-flynn-son-trump.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/06/us/politics/michael-flynn-son-trump.html) Bender, Brian; Hanna, Andrew (December 5, 2016). “Flynn under fire for fake news”. Politico. “… Flynn posed a tweet containing the hashtag “#spiritcooking,” a reference to a bizarre rumor alleging that Clinton’s campaign manager, John Podesta, took part in occult rituals in which people consume blood and other bodily fluids. That rumor, based on a wild reading of some Podesta emails that had been released by WikiLeaks, also took off on websites such as the Drudge Report and InfoWars, run by Trump-supporting conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. The “#spiritcooking” rumor soon morphed into the “#pizzagate” conspiracy theory involving Comet Ping Pong, which alleges that virtually the entire D.C. establishment … is involved with or covering up a satanic plot to traffic in, sexually abuse and murder children.” [http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/michael-flynn-conspiracy-pizzeria-trump-232227](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/michael-flynn-conspiracy-pizzeria-trump-232227) Smith, Allan (December 5, 2016). “Michael Flynn’s son spars with Jake Tapper over fake ‘pizzagate’ story that led armed man to go to restaurant”. Business Insider. Retrieved December 5, 2016. > **[Michael Flynn’s son spars with Jake Tapper over fake 'pizzagate' story that...](https://www.businessinsider.com/jake-tapper-pizzagate-michael-flynn-son-2016-12)** > > "It is not the site of a satanic pedophilia cult. It is a f------ pizzeria," Jake Tapper said of "pizzagate." Rosenberg, Matthew (December 5, 2016). “Trump Adviser Has Pushed Clinton Conspiracy Theories”. The New York Times. Retrieved December 6, 2016. [https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/05/us/politics/-michael-flynn-trump-fake-news-clinton.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/05/us/politics/-michael-flynn-trump-fake-news-clinton.html) Faulders, Katherine (December 6, 2016). “Mike Flynn Jr. Forced Out of Trump Transition Amid Fake News Controversy”. ABC News. Retrieved December 7, 2016. > **[Mike Flynn Jr. Forced Out of Trump Transition Amid Fake-News Controversy](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/mike-flynn-jr-forced-trump-transition-amid-fake/story?id=44018995)** > > Flynn Jr. has been at the center of a fake-news controversy. This all started with the alt-right crew digging through the Wikileaks dump of John Podesta’s emails. It’s the same crew that’s desperately trying to flog the Seth Rich story (which has metastasized from this). This is what Trump’s team was talking about when they hinted that dark news was coming from wikileaks weeks before it dropped. It’s all the same alt-right shit peddlers. Only some of it’s coming from inside the Whitehouse. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comet-pizza-incident/773955/60 "2025-01-10T00:33:53Z")
Well, it is 8 years later and the Salisbury Pizza guy is back in the news for turning his life around and becoming a productive member of society. (Just kidding, he pulled a gun on police during a traffic stop and became dead.) [https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/crime/article298247913.html](https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/crime/article298247913.html) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comet-pizza-incident/773955.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comet-pizza-incident/773955.md?page=4)