Posted on 12/07/2016 6:46:38 PM PST by nickcarraway
East Side Pies co-owner Noah Polk first heard of the conspiracy theory known as “pizzagate” around the time of the presidential election. The fake news story was started by an online community, fueled by misinterpretations of emails released by WikiLeaks, that claimed associates of Hillary Clinton were behind a child sex-trafficking ring headquartered at the Comet Ping Pong pizza restaurant in Washington, D.C. The fake story turned into a real crime scene on Sunday when a gunman walked into that Washington restaurant and fired a shot. Now, Austin police are investigating harassment and vandalism that’s been waged against the local restaurant by believers of the “pizzagate” conspiracy.
For Polk’s restaurant, the conspiracy theory first hit home when someone he’d never met left a review on East Side Pies’ Facebook page. The comment mentioned “pizzagate” and Comet Ping Pong owner James Alefantis. It was the commenter’s second post in a few days. The first had referenced pedophilia.
That day Polk was also alerted to a thread on the message board Reddit suggesting East Side Pies might also be a part of the fictional sex-trafficking ring. Once he went down that internet rabbit hole, Polk was shocked to find myriad posts falsely tying East Side Pies to the debunked conspiracy theory.
East Side Pies is continuing to suffer sporadic harassment and name-calling via social media, and one of its delivery trucks was vandalized with a scrawled epithet.
The online posts have made wild and baseless accusations about East Side Pies. They interpreted the restaurant’s logo as a symbol of the “Illuminati,” questioned the meaning of photos of pizza-eating children on East Side Pies’ Facebook account, inferred that a picture of staffers with former Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell was proof of nefarious political ties and claimed co-owner Michael Freid, an alumnus of the Culinary Institute of America, had “connections to the CIA.”
“This is absolutely insane and unfounded and ridiculous,” Polk said Tuesday of his thoughts after reading the initial posts. “The dots they are trying to connect are so ludicrous. I was not happy about it.”
Polk said he became worried about the safety of his employees, as well as his restaurant’s reputation, and he contacted Austin police and the FBI on Monday.
Austin police on Wednesday confirmed that a report for criminal mischief had been filed Tuesday involving one of the restaurant’s vehicles. A police spokesman said profane and sexual statements had been carved into the vehicle in the 5300 block of Airport Boulevard. The complete report on the incident and additional details weren’t immediately available Wednesday.
The online targeting of East Side Pies had gained steam Saturday when Owen Shroyer — who hosts a live-streaming podcast called “Engage Liberty” and makes videos for the Austin-based conspiracy-fueled website Infowars.com — hosted a 21/2-hour broadcast detailing his visits to multiple East Side Pies locations.
In the broadcast uploaded to YouTube, Shroyer said he was “weirded out and creeped out” by his visits to East Side Pies. What he saw, he says, left him “gripping my gun tighter every night.”
The “weird stuff” he encountered? Employees with large-gauge piercings and blue hair, a “weird locked-up grate in the back” of one location, disturbing rock music and band fliers with “satanic” symbols. The “coup de grace,” according to Shroyer: two children playing dominoes in the presence of an adult.
He also thought the restaurant’s logo, a pizza in the shape of an eye, with the catchphrase “We know what you want,” was a nod to the Illuminati.
While the other accusations probably don’t require much explanation from a laid-back, family-friendly, rock-and-roll pizza joint in the Live Music Capital of the World, Polk offered a quick back-story on the name and logo.
Polk, who opened the restaurant with Freid in 2006, wanted to name the restaurant East Side Pies, written as three separate words. When he told a friend, the guy immediately quipped, “ESP. We know what you want.” Thus was born a clever piece of marketing, soon to be accompanied by a logo with a circular pizza minus a slice representing an eyeball.
Polk has received about a half-dozen calls over the past several days from people using unidentifiable phone numbers requesting interviews with East Side Pies management or ownership.
The co-owners refused the requests from the suspicious callers, because, in the words of Polk, “You argue with the fool, you’re the fool yourself.”
On Sunday, a North Carolina man was arrested in Washington, D.C., after entering Comet Ping Pong with a semi-automatic weapon and firing at least one shot. Police said he later told them he was “self-investigating” conspiracy theories about child slaves there. The incident, which made national news, reaffirmed to Polk that his instinct to contact law enforcement was correct.
“Luckily nobody got hurt during the shooting, but I do believe it’s come to light now, it’s a national story, about fake news,” Polk said. “I do believe people who’ve been on the fence or thought maybe there was something to it … now most thinking people will realize that this is fake and not to get behind it or think there is any truth to it.”
Freid and Polk said the false accusations and character assassination has been “alarming, disappointing, disconcerting and scary.”
“The biggest thing: It was unfair,” Freid said. “We have too many other things to do just to keep our business going every day. It’s completely unfounded and ludicrous. It is absolutely absurd.”
.
>> “Strange isn’t?” <<
No it isn’t.
We all know how to search and follow links back to solid info.
Are you a late blooming troll?
Google chicken lover meaning and it says, ‘A man who has sex with children.’ I think saying that in a public place is illegal.
I like how they have already determined it is “The fake news story” before any investigation.
I guess there is no need to investigate
.
>> Instead of “guilt by association”, they will attempt to prove “innocence by association” <<
Yep, a smoke screen.
.
.
This is obviously far bigger than we ever guessed.
To be waking up sleeper trolls that have been hiding here for years means that they are pulling out all the stops.
.
It is entirely possible that BJC did not have sex with underage girls. But it is nearly impossible that he didn’t know it was happening.
My best guess is that BJC and Hitlery were more likely gathering information to be used to blackmail people. They both crave power and being able to blackmail powerful people about underage sex would give them plenty of power. It might open the wallets of those powerful (and rich) people and encourage them to contribute to a campaign or a “charitable” foundation.
As far as I’m concerned, knowing about it and doing nothing to stop it is just as bad as participating. Knowing about it and using the information is maybe even worse, particularly if one is encouraging more of that behavior in order to acquire more power.
FLASHBACK:
http://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=2269
The Left’s Pedophile Problem
By: Andrew Walden
FrontPageMagazine.com | Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Democrats trying to make political hay out of the resignation of Florida Republican Congressman Mark Foley should take a good look at their own party. There was Bill Clinton’s last minute pardon of former Rep. Mel Reynolds, D-IL, who had been imprisoned for having sex with a 16-year-old staffer. (He was later hired by Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow/PUSH Coalition; both Clinton and Jackson had also had sex with subordinates.) There is the case of Rep. Barney Frank, D-MA, whose office housed a prostitution ring. However, less known is one Hawaiian case, in which more than seven high ranking Democrat senators and representatives (and one Republican) worked to assist one Leon Rouse – a convicted child molester serving time on underage sex charges in the Philippines. Rouse, now released after 8 years in prison, was hired last session as an employee of a Democrat-controlled Hawaii state Legislative Committee. 2008 Democratic presidential hopeful Russ Feingold also came to his defense, along with a Clinton-era U.S. embassy and more than half-a-dozen Democrats.
Arrested in the Philippines on October 4, 1995, and later convicted for paying 200 pesos to have sex with a 15-year-old boy, Leon Rouse served eight years of a 10-to-15-year sentence in New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City. After complaining of kidney stones, he was released by the Philippine authorities on September 29, 2003, and immediately deported to the U.S. As a condition of his release, he was banished from the Philippines for life.
In spite of being a convicted child molester, Rouse has received extensive help from many elected Democrats and one Republican. According to the May 22, 2005, Honolulu Advertiser:
(snip)
http://humanevents.com/2006/10/03/top-10-democrat-sex-scandals-in-congress/
Top 10 Democrat Sex Scandals in Congress
Human Events | Tuesday Oct 3, 2006
10. Sen. Daniel Inouye. The 82-year-old Hawaii Democrat was accused in the 1990s by numerous women of sexual harassment. Democrats cast doubt on the allegations and the Senate Ethics Committee dropped its investigation.
9. Former Rep. Gus Savage. The Illinois Democrat was accused of fondling a Peace Corps volunteer in 1989 while on a trip to Africa. The House Ethics Committee decided against disciplinary action in 1990.
8. Rep. Barney Frank. The outspoken Massachusetts Democrat hired a male prostitute who ran a prostitution service from Frank’s residence in the 1980s. Only two Democrats in the House of Representatives voted to censure him in 1990.
7. Former Sen. Brock Adams. The late Washington Democrat was forced to stop campaigning after numerous accusations of drugging, assault and rape, the first surfacing in 1988.
6. Former Rep. Fred Richmond. This New York Democrat was arrested in 1978 for soliciting sex from a 16-year-old. He remained in Congress and won re-election—before eventually resigning in 1982 after pleading guilty to tax evasion and drug possession.
5. Former Rep. John Young. The late Texas Democrat increased the salary of a staffer after she gave in to his sexual advances. The congressman won re-election in 1976 but lost two years later.
4. Former Rep. Wayne Hays. The late Ohio Democrat hired an unqualified secretary reportedly for sexual acts. Although he resigned from Congress, the Democratic House leadership stalled in removing him from the Administration Committee in 1976.
3. Former Rep. Gerry Studds. He was censured for sexual relationship with underage male page in 1983. Massachusetts voters returned him to office for six more terms.
2. Former Rep. Mel Reynolds. The Illinois Democrat was convicted of 12 counts of sexual assault with a 16-year-old. President Bill Clinton pardoned him before leaving office.
1. Sen. Teddy Kennedy. The liberal Massachusetts senator testified in defense of nephew accused of rape, invoking his family history to win over the jury in 1991.
I agree. Desperation.
I think that those of us who think there is something going on should communicate via private message in order to brainstorm ideas for what we should be looking for, etc. I can’t believe that we should be reduced to sitting by helplessly while the perps are covering their tracks. They’ve had over a month to focus on covering things up.
1. What evidence should we be looking for before it’s shredded/destroyed?
2. Who do we think are the trolls here?
3. Who do we see attempting to delegitimize this story in the major media? What are their connections/motiviations?
4. What’s Podesta been up to for the last month?
I’m suggesting that we answer those questions via private message.
Exactly.
They are DESPERATELY trying to convince people that there is nothing there.
Compare this to some other “crackpot” theory. I believe that Apollo 11 did, in fact, land on the moon. There are some who have the conspiracy theory that it never happened. If there were a thread on the topic, I would probably not bother commenting. If I did comment, I certainly would not spend hours/days/weeks arguing with someone who believed it never happened. Why would I? Let them hold onto their kooky theories.
The reason a person would argue so vehemently and so desperately is because they have some sort of stake in it. IMO, they are either being paid to argue or they argue because they are guilty.
>>Did you see the “art”
Yeah I saw enough “art” to know that’s not the sort of reprobate character that should be involved in governing our American Republic.
But unfortunately the “art” is legal.
Follow the money - that’s what will result in prosecutions and the elimination of financial support for the perversion.
>>There is no way to spin that art as something mundane.
Yep.
Weren't you the one who was thanking me for being civil in one of my responses to you?
You linked the term Chickenhawk.......
Did someone display that?
Concern trolling?
Anytime someone on the left disagrees with someone it’s that they are racist. Anytime someone on the right disagrees with someone they are trolls, or paid shills, or disinformation agents.
Talk to a serious investigator about pizzagate.
4chan and reddit are notorious for hoaxes, lying, photoshopping, deceit, etc.
What are you talking about? You can say whatever you want in public. It might be rude, crude, vulgar, or looked down on. But it isn’t a crime.
.
Pizzagate is as real as they come.
You are as troll as they come.
Who woke you up?
.
No stars in space?
The lunar lander actually looks like something a homeless tweaker built while high on meth.
The motive was to win the cold war by driving the Russians to economic destruction.
Otherwise, we’d have gone back and have scientific bases on the moon and possibly manufacturing.
You’re nuttier than squirrel turds.
Yes, but on the bottom it has references that defines chicken also.
Based on this, you still don’t think these gay men meant were suggesting (if even joking) that the young boy might be a new homosexual recruit?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.