The Pizzagate gunman who stormed the Comet Ping Pong in 2016 was killed by NC State Police

The conspiracy theorist who entered the Comet Ping Pong restaurant in Washington, D.C., with two pistols in late 2016 as part of a terrorist operation. Pizzagate hysteria He was shot by police on January 4 and died last Monday, according to a news release from the Kannapolis Police Department in North Carolina. Edgar Madison Welch was a passenger in a car that was stopped by police on Saturday night, January 4, while he was driving. Gray 2001 GMC Yukon Kannapolis Police Department.

“The officer recognized the vehicle as one typically driven by someone he had previously arrested, who he knew had an outstanding warrant. “The officer stopped the vehicle and while interacting with the driver, the officer identified the front seat passenger as the person with an outstanding arrest warrant,” Kannapolis police said in a statement.

The police department statement said the officer was speaking with the driver when two other officers arrived at the scene, and the first officer proceeded to open the front passenger side door.

“When (the officer) opened the door, the front seat passenger pulled a handgun from his jacket and pointed it at the officer,” the police statement said. “This officer and a second officer who was standing in the rear passenger side of the Yukon ordered the passenger to drop the gun. After the passenger failed to respond to their repeated requests, the two officers fired their weapons at the passenger and struck him.

The police statement claims that medical assistance was ““He was immediately called to the passenger.” Welch was taken to Atrium Health Cabarrus Hospital in Concord before being transferred to Atrium Hospital in Charlotte when he died on January 6.

“The three officers at the traffic stop, along with the driver and rear seat passenger of the Yukon, were not injured in this incident,” the statement read.

The officers who fired their weapons have been identified as Officer Brooks Jones and Officer Caleb Tate, who are now on administrative leave, though details have not been released about how many shots were fired and who may have hit Welch. A third officer at the scene, who has not been identified, did not fire his weapon.

In December 2016, Welch drove from North Carolina to Washington, D.C., searching for kidnapped and abused children believed to be held in the restaurant’s basement, a conspiracy theory related to former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton that had become extremely popular online in the run-up to the election. Presidential. Election 2016. Welch entered Comet Ping Pong with an AR-15 and a handgun, and had a rifle in his car, sending families with children fleeing in terror. Welch was reportedly confused when he was told that Comet Ping Pong had no basement, a central feature of the conspiracy theory that children are trafficked and abused there. Pizzagate began after emails from Clinton campaign manager John Podesta were published by WikiLeaks and conspiracy theorists became obsessed with discussing pizza and a Washington, D.C., pizza restaurant by name.

Alex Jones was instrumental in helping push the conspiracy theory, along with other right-wing influencers like Mike Cernovich and Jack Posobiec. Here in 2024, Posobiec has become even more influential as editor of Human Events, a “news” outlet that produces articles occasionally shared by President-elect Donald Trump. Cernovich also has some influence here in the 2020s, as someone who frequently interacts with billionaire Elon Musk.

“When I think of all the children that Hillary Clinton personally killed, cut up, and raped, I have no fear in standing against her,” Jones said in a since-deleted message. YouTube video Published on November 4, 2016, according to The Washington Post. “Yes, you heard me right. Hillary Clinton killed children herself. I can’t hold back the truth anymore.”

Jones was later banned from YouTube and several other major social media platforms, but was allowed to return to X after Musk purchased the site. The InfoWars host has yet to comment on Welsh’s murder, but it seems like a safe bet that he will eventually do so.

Welsh eventually pleaded guilty in 2017 to a charge of interstate transportation of a firearm and ammunition and was sentenced to four years in prison. After his arrest, Welch told… New York Times“I regret the way I handled the situation” but remain convinced that the Pizzagate conspiracy theory was real, admitting only that “the information about this was not 100%.”