An assault rifle-wielding gunman’s appearance at a Washington pizzeria that was falsely reported to house a pedophile ring has elevated worries over the unrelenting rise of fake news and malicious gossip on the internet.
No one was injured when 28-year-old Edgar Maddison Welch strode into the Comet Ping Pong restaurant, packed with families on a Sunday afternoon, and fired off a round from his AR-15.
Police quickly arrested him, discovering two more weapons, and said he had told them he drove up from North Carolina to personally investigate “Pizza-gate” — the stories that Comet was a center for child abduction linked to defeated Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and a top advisor.
But it raised to a new level the danger of the profusion of false news stories and rumors spread over the internet and in social media, much of it aimed at fortifying the views of various political and social groups.
Welch’s intrusion and the constant online harassment of Comet and neighboring shops sent jitters through the tony Chevy Chase neighborhood of northwest Washington, where Vice President-elect Mike Pence recently rented a home.
“What happened today demonstrates that promoting false and reckless conspiracy theories comes with consequences,” Comet owner James Alefantis said in a statement Sunday.
“I hope that those involved in fanning these flames will take a moment to contemplate what happened here today, and stop promoting these falsehoods right away.”
Welch traveled to the capital even though the false story about Comet had been extensively debunked.
It nevertheless survived and spread further on the internet helped by news-like websites like Infowars, and Facebook posts and Twitter messages by people with huge audiences and significant political connections.
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