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Here’s How a Fake News Story About Hillary Clinton Inspired a Bizarre Development to Occur
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Provoked by a fake online conspiracy theory, a man entered a busy pizzeria in Washington, D.C. with an assault rifle and fired. No injuries were reported.
Edgar Maddison Welch, a 28-year-old from North Carolina, was at Comet Ping Pong on the northwest side of D.C. to “self-investigate” an infamous conspiracy, which involved Hillary Clinton.
Welch arrived around 3 p.m. on Sunday, December 4 wielding an assault rifle and pointing it at an employee. That employee fled with everyone else at the scene and called the police to arrest Welch.
One shot was fired, but no one was hit. Two weapons were on Welch and one was in his vehicle.
He was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon.
“What happened today demonstrates that promoting false and reckless conspiracy theories comes with consequences,” said owner of the pizzeria James Alefantis in a statement released on Sunday.
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