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A North Carolina man pleaded guilty Friday to charges from an armed encounter within a Washington, D.C., pizzeria that was the focus of pernicious and baseless Internet rumors.

On Dec. 4, 2016, Edgar Maddison Welch entered the Comet Ping Pong restaurant and fired an AR-15 rifle into a door. The 28-year-old man told police that he had driven from his home in Salisbury, N.C., to "self-investigate" the "pizzagate" conspiracy theory that the restaurant was the site of a child sex-abuse ring involving powerful Democrats such as Hillary Clinton.

Welch was charged with illegally transporting firearms over state lines and assault with a dangerous weapon. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.


The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia 

 that Welch will may receive far less time — likely a range of 18 to 24 months for the federal firearms charge and 18 to 60 months for the District of Columbia assault charge.


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.

 talked with NPR about the Internet rumors about a week before the incident:


Business and Economic News

Jason Slotkin

Author

Edgar Maddison Welch accepted a plea deal over his armed confrontation at the Comet Ping Pong restaurant in Washington, D.C., last year. The North Carolina man says he was motivated by online rumors.

'Pizzagate' gunman pleads guilty to charges

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