Posted on 06/22/2017 11:05:55 AM PDT by Drew68
A US man who opened fired in a Washington DC pizza restaurant because of an online conspiracy theory has been sentenced to four years in prison.
Edgar Maddison Welch, 28, burst into Comet Ping Pong on 4 December 2016 armed with a rifle and pistol. He drove from North Carolina to pursue bogus claims that the restaurant was the nexus of a child sex ring linked to Hillary Clinton's inner circle. No one was injured in what prosecutors described as an "armed invasion".
Welch fired an assault rifle into a locked cabinet, believing that abused children were being kept there. Online conspiracy theorists had circulated a rumour that hacked emails from former Democratic presidential candidate's campaign manager contained clues to a paedophile ring.
James Alefantis, who owns the restaurant, testified in court that Welch's "physical terror" had "left lasting damage on the people I love". He added that he hopes that "one day in a more truthful time we will remember this day as an aberration" when "lies were seen as real and our social fabric had frayed", the Washington Post reported.
Welch, who has two young daughters, pleaded guilty in March to assault and firearms charges.
In a letter to US District Judge Ketanji Jackson, Welch apologised for "endangering the safety" of the pizzeria customers, adding "it was never my intention to harm or frighten innocent lives, but I realise now just how foolish and reckless my decision was".
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
What exactly was it he hoped to accomplish?
“He drove from North Carolina to pursue bogus claims that the restaurant was the nexus of a child sex ring linked to Hillary Clinton’s inner circle.”
Reminds me of when during the Fraud’s reign, every several months, Big Media would publish articles chastising X% for still believing the Fraud is a muslim.
Big Media is still covering for pedophile Democrats and RINOs.
“Welch fired an assault rifle into a locked cabinet, believing that abused children were being kept there.”
There is nothing that abused children love more than being locked in a cabinet and then having some random psychopath begin firing rounds into the cabinet where they are trapped.
he was a sucker for a unproven conspiracy nut theories
Excessive. No one got hurt. At least not by him.
They sure dealt with him quick.
There are degrees of paranoia; a lot of us were fascinated by those claims, some of us actually believed, but only he elected himself sheriff. He’s a candidate for the funny farm and should have pleaded crazy.
“Excessive. No one got hurt. At least not by him.”
How is it excessive when he himself plead guilty and accepted the sentence?
However, his intention was to kill people and that is why he fired rounds into a locked cabinet where he believed children where being held.
His intent was to kill, he should have been found guilty and trial and sentenced to far more than 4 years.
???????????
This whole thing stinks.
“”Welch fired an assault rifle into a locked cabinet, believing that abused children were being kept there””
Exactly, He attempted a Mass-Murder of children, and will only serve four years.
This is not a wack-o-lib site.
You're welcome to stay, but you'll need to start making sense.
He fired weapon into a cabinet where he believed there were children being held captive.
The only intent in such an action would be to kill the children that were in the locked cabinet.
He did the equivalent of firing a rifle into an elementary school classroom where he thought children would be.
“How is it excessive when he himself plead guilty and accepted the sentence?”
This was not a plea bargain. He was made an example of.
“his intention was to kill people”
No evidence of that. You cited his guilty plea and acceptance. Did you read his statement? He apologized for “endangering the safety” of people there and claimed “it was never my intention to harm or frighten innocent lives.”
“that is why he fired rounds into a locked cabinet where he believed children where being held”
Now you sound like a Podesta apologist. As foolish as this guy was, no honest or sane person can argue the REASON he fired into the cabinet was to kill the children he thought were trapped in there.
It may be reasonable to call the guy crazy for thinking kids were trapped in there. But claiming he was trying to kill the children is beyond ludicrous.
If he had any intention to kill anyone then it would have been those who kidnapped the children he believed were there. But he did NOT do that, and he easily could have. So why didn’t he?
It is not crazy to believe these people are trafficking, torturing, and killing children. They are presently and openly ripping babies up and selling their body parts. They are stealing our tax revenues to do so. They have demanded children to be turned over to the control of sexual deviants. If they do these things openly, it is no stretch at all to believe they are kidnapping, torturing, and killing children.
They try to criminalize even the criticism of their perversion-based, Satanic religion.
“His intent was to kill, he should have been found guilty and trial and sentenced to far more than 4 years.”
Abortionists not only have the intent to kill every day, but they actually do it. And it is not guilty perverts and corrupt politicians they kill. Do you support abortionists being incarcerated for “far more than 4 years,” or just misguided zealots?
I have not read that they are doing abortions at the pizza place.
As for the crime itself, he saw a cabinet and had reason to believe that children were locked in the cabinet and being that he thought kids were locked in the cabinet, he believed his best course of action would be to fire several rounds into the locked cabinet where he believed the children to be trapped.
How can there be multiple children in a cabinet? A cabinet.
And if he wanted to save the children why would he want to shoot the children? This is a lie so moronic that only a liberal could repeat it.
Here's what was in the cabinet: the computer w/ comet pizza's data files. He put a bullet through the comet pizza computer. I guess that beats smashing it w/ a hammer.
Like I said, this whole thing stinks.
From the article “Welch fired an assault rifle into a locked cabinet, believing that abused children were being kept there.”
The sentence states that he believed kids were being kept in the cabinet.
But, let’s suppose it wants a bad sentence.
With that, we are left with he walked into a crowded pizza parlor and begin firing a weapon.
For that, you get prison time.
I suspect he was trying to shoot the lock off.
“I suspect he was trying to shoot the lock off.”
I believe that method of unlocking a lock in the workplace is against OSHA regulations.
There is still a lot of, there, there.
I hope it comes out soon and some hard time awaits skippie.
“I have not read that they are doing abortions at the pizza place.”
Facetious.
It’s a Democrat party fundraising hotspot. In case you are just getting acclimated to politics since joining FR less than two years ago (at which time you apparently suddenly realized, after 7 years of Obama that you needed a place to pontificate about politics), Democrats LOVE abortion.
They eat, sleep, and drink abortion. The only time they don’t obsessively promote abortion - the veritable sacrament of their religion - they obsessively promote sodomy and making sure as many children that escaped their abortion plot get exposed to as much sodomy-promotion as possible.
And it is places like Comet Pizza where they conduct their religious services. Notwithstanding, there is only circumstantial evidence which points to this place as a gathering of leftist pedophiles and occult practitioners.
“As for the crime itself, he saw a cabinet and had reason to believe that children were locked in the cabinet and being that he thought kids were locked in the cabinet, he believed his best course of action would be to fire several rounds into the locked cabinet where he believed the children to be trapped.”
There are contradictory testimonies about how many (if any) shots were fired. The police report says 3. Three things were damaged as well: the door, the lock, and a computer behind the door.
A plea deal was offered by the prosecutor but was rejected by Welch. The offer was not publicly disclosed. The current outcome was a partial plea deal in which the length of sentence was determined by a judge. It is a bit on the high side, but not far off from what the average person with similar charges would receive.
No, this was not attempted murder, as you are alleging. The charges were for transporting weapons and ammunition across state lines (federal), and assault with a dangerous weapon (district).
I think we both agree that people should not fire a weapon in a crowded pizza parlor.
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