Photo by Diane Pappafotis.

Photo by Diane Pappafotis.

D.C. Police arrested a man for allegedly bringing a gun into Comet Ping Pong, pointing the rifle at an employee and firing at least one shot.

Edgar Maddison Welch, a 28 year old from North Carolina, told police he came to the Chevy Chase pizzeria “to self-investigate ‘Pizzagate,'” according to a release from MPD.

Pizzagate refers to a baseless accusation against the restaurant that has led toharassment of the popular pizzeria, its employees, and neighbors, including death threats.

Near 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon, Welch allegedly pointed a gun at an employee, who was able to escape and call the police. He fired the weapon at least once. Police arrested him without incident, per MPD, recovering two guns inside the pizzeria and another from Welch’s car. No injuries were reported.

Police closed off Connecticut Ave. for part of the afternoon, and other businesses were on lock down. The street opened back up to traffic around 5:30 p.m.

“I want to congratulate the police on a very effective show of force, sealing the area, & an arrest apparently without injuries,” said Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh in a tweet. She and other councilmembers visited the pizzeria last weekend in a show of support.

Earlier this week, Comet Ping Pong announced it was increasing security at its concerts. “There have been no hostile situations at the venue, and we do not anticipate any altercations as much of the harassment has occurred online, but as a precaution we now have security and police present at every show.”

The Pizzagate theory surfaced shortly before the election, when online conspiracy theorists on sites like Reddit, 4chan, and Twitter claimed that Comet Ping Pong was at the nexus of a Satanic sex ring and the Clinton circle. MPD defined it as a “fictitious online conspiracy theory.”

While Reddit shut down the pizzagate subreddit more than a week ago, harassment of the establishment persisted. The subreddit’s users switched to another site, where they cite the crackdown as more evidence of their claims.

Welch has been charged with assault with a dangerous weapon.

Filed Under: comet ping pong, d.c. police, pizzagate,