Photo by Jess J.

Photo by Jess J.

More than 500 people have already said they’re eating at Comet Ping Pong on Friday to show their support for the pizzeria, which has been the target of vicious rumors, harassment, and now a man who brought a gun inside, pointed it an employee, and discharged at least one shot on Sunday afternoon.

D.C. Police arrested Edgar Maddison Welch yesterday afternoon and he faces seven offenses, including assault with a dangerous weapon. MPD says Welch told them he came from North Carolina to “self-investigate ‘Pizzagate,'” a discredited theory that started shortly before the election, tying the restaurant to a Satanic sex ring run by Clinton loyalists without proof. No one was reported injured.

Police seized three guns—a Colt .38 handgun, a Colt AR-15 rifle, and a shotgun—and a folding knife, according to a police report obtained by Washingtonian. Other nearby businesses were on lock down for much of the afternoon as police swept the area.

“We are heartened by the support and loyalty of our customers and our community,” said owner James Alefantis in an emotional statement Sunday night. “We are deeply grateful to the law enforcement officers who responded swiftly to our call. Thanks to their good work, I am confident we will continue and securely, as we have for the past decade.”

Comet Ping Pong already increased security at its events last week.

He added that he honored his employees, “who went above and beyond the call of duty to make sure they and our customers left safely and were taken care of.” He said that Comet would be closed on Monday to give those employees a day off, but “we look forward to serving pizzas very soon, probably Tuesday.”

The event, Stand With Comet, implores people to eat at the Chevy Chase restaurant on Friday.

“No doubt this awful event and the malicious mistruths spread beforehand have left the staff feeling unsafe and on edge. They need a little light in all this darkness,” the event’s description says. “Thank the staff for being a part of our community. Tell them you have their back. Tip well.”

The event is organized by Erick Sanchez, who recently put together a “Thank You, Uncle Joe” rally that Vice President Biden attended, and food writer Nevin Martell.

“Sunday’s events were absolutely appalling and thank God no one was hurt,” says Sanchez. “Comet Ping Pong needs to know that it’s an establishment that the D.C. community is proud of.” He says he has been in touch with management about the plans.

Despite community support, including from several councilmembers, the theories and harassment persist. Efforts to stop the conversation have likewise been unsuccessful. When Reddit shut down the Pizzagate subreddit, users reconvened on the website Voat.

“We should all condemn the efforts of some people to spread malicious and utterly false accusations about Comet Ping Pong,” said Alefantis. “Let me state unequivocally—these stories are completely and entirely false. What happened today demonstrates that promoting false and reckless conspiracy theories do come with consequences, and I hope that those that are involved with fanning these flames will take a moment to contemplate what happened here [Sunday], and to stop right away.”

It doesn’t look like the conspiracy theorists are listening to Alefantis, or to D.C. Police, which called Pizzagate a “fictitious online conspiracy theory.” Welch’s Facebook account “likes” InfoWars and its host Alex Jones, according to The Daily Beast, a fake news network that has been pushing theories that the Sandy Hook shooting never happened and that fluoride is used as mind control in the water supply, in addition to Pizzagate.

Subscribers to the theory, who consider every attempt to correct the record as further proof of their certitude, include Michael G. Flynn, the son of President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for national security adviser, Michael J. Flynn.

“Until #Pizzagate proven to be false, it’ll remain a story,” the younger Flynn said in a tweet. It has been proven false on numerous occasions. For instance, while the theory hinges on secret basements beneath the restaurant for trafficking children, Comet Ping Pong doesn’t have a basement.

While some original news reports on the shooting incorrectly stated that the elder Flynn was tweeting about Pizzagate, he was actually sharing information about a different, entirely unproven anti-Clinton conspiracy related to a pedophilia ring. The younger Flynn has an official government transition email address, reports CNN.

Washingtonian and its staffers have been “bombarded” with tweets from people claiming, falsely, that the magazine published its story before the shooting occurred, per senior editor Andrew Beaujon.

D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson said in a series of tweets that the shooting at Comet Ping Pong “bespeaks the problem of irresponsible rhetoric by our political leaders … Fake news & hateful speech has its consequences.”

This story has been updated.

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