Plea expected in Comet Ping Pong 'Pizzagate' shooting case
- by Virginia Carter
- in World Media
- — Mar 25, 2017
Welch agreed to pay $5,744 in restitution to the restaurant, Comet Ping Pong, to cover damage to computer systems, a door and a lock, and a ping pong table; according to charging documents, he fired several shots inside the restaurant.
He admitted driving to Washington with three loaded weapons, responding to a baseless Internet conspiracy claim, known as "Pizzagate", that the Comet Ping Pong restaurant was involved in a child pornography ring run by Democrats.
The sentencing guidelines are 18 to 24 months for interstate transportation and 18 to 60 months for the assault charge. Each offense carries a maximum sentence of 10 years, although it's likely that he'll end up serving smaller, consecutive sentences that could total 7 years behind bars. Under the deal, prosecutors dropped one firearm possession charge. In his vehicle, Welch carried an AR-15 rifle loaded with 29 rounds, a fully-loaded six-shot.38 caliber pistol, a loaded 12-gauge shotgun and a box of shotgun shells.
Months after a conspiracy theory about Hillary Clinton's involvement in a child trafficking ring out of a Washington, D.C., pizzeria blew up from a very fake news story to a real-life shooting, fringe right-wing media outlet Infowars is apologizing for its role in spreading the completely false narrative.
"Upon arriving at the restaurant, Welch parked his vehicle and armed himself".
Welch surrendered to law enforcement following the incident, but his armed entrance shocked the pizzeria's staff and management, already beleaguered by the fake news story. At about 3 p.m., he marched inside the restaurant, which was occupied by employees and customers, including children.
Welch, who has been in custody since his arrest, is scheduled to be sentenced on June 22.
Prosecutors said that Welch fired the assault rifle multiple times into a locked door and pointed the rifle at an employee after others had fled.
Edgar Welch, 28, reportedly entered the local Comet Ping Pong on December 4, 2016, wielding his rifle and threatening the restaurant's employees and customers.
