An online hoax called “Pizzagate” made a man fire a gun in a Washington, D.C. restaurant almost ten years ago. He was then shot and killed by North Carolina police during a weekend traffic stop.
A news report from the Kannapolis Police Department says Edgar Maddison Welch was a passenger in a car that was pulled over in Kannapolis on Saturday night. Police say that one of the cops knew the SUV because it was one that he had seen Welch drive before. Authorities say the officer had already arrested Welch and knew he had a warrant out for his arrest for breaking his probation for a crime at the time.
Police say that the man pulled out a gun and pointed it at one of the officers when they went up to the car to arrest Welch. Authorities say that two cops shot Welch after he was told to drop the gun but didn’t.
The press statement says that Welch was taken to the hospital by emergency workers but died two days later from his injuries. The police officers, the driver, and another passenger were all safe.
Authorities say that in 2016, Welch drove from North Carolina to Washington, D.C., with an assault rifle because he believed a false conspiracy theory that powerful Democrats were running a child sex ring out of the pizza. The false idea, which was called “Pizzagate,” started going around the internet during the 2016 election.
Welch went into the restaurant armed, and as people ran out of the door, he shot at a locked room inside. Welch gave up quietly when he realized there were no kids being held hostage in the pizzeria. It didn’t hurt anyone.
At the time, James Alefantis, the owner of Comet Ping Pong, said that the conspiracy theory and the violence that followed it had scarred him and his staff.
It was later found that Welch was guilty of transporting a gun and ammo across state lines and assault with a dangerous weapon in 2017. After that, his judge, who is now Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, gave him a four-year prison term.
Annette Privette Keller, who is in charge of communications for the city of Kannapolis, stated that the man who died was the same person who was involved in “Pizzagate.”
Welch was shot and killed in Salisbury. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is looking into the case, and the cops who shot him are on administrative leave, which is standard practice for the department.
Leave a Comment