An American who opened fire in a Washington pizzeria at the end of 2016 because he believed in a conspiracy theory, dubbed “Pizzagate”, about a pedophile ring led by Democrat Hillary Clinton, was murdered by police, reported Thursday, January 9. . , the local press.
Edgar Maddison Welch died Monday, two days after refusing to comply during a police traffic stop in North Carolina, according to the Charlotte Observer newspaper.
Edgar Maddison Welch made headlines in the United States and abroad for a fake pedophile scandal known as “pizzagate” in early December 2016, a month after Donald Trump’s presidential victory against Hillary Clinton.
It was a widespread rumor that a family restaurant in an exclusive Washington suburb, frequented by the Democratic Party elite and host to a fundraising event for candidate Hillary Clinton, housed in its basement an alleged network that kidnapped, exploited and He sexually tortured children. .
False information fed at the time by the far-right movement QAnon and internet forums such as 4chan.
Shoot up a pizzeria with an assault rifle
On Sunday, December 4, 2016, Edgar Maddison Welch, then 28 years old, after three days of reading online conspiracy theories about these alleged Democratic pedophiles, drove hours from North Carolina to break into the Comet Ping Pong pizzeria, armed with an assault rifle.
According to him, he wanted to investigate the pizzagate issue. He fired shots at the floor and ceiling, causing no injuries, and was immediately arrested. Sentenced to four years in prison in the spring of 2017, he was released in March 2020 and was no longer spoken of.
But on Saturday, as the Charlotte Observer reported Thursday, Edgar Maddison Welch was mistaken for another wanted person when police stopped him while driving a car in Kannapolis, North Carolina.
Police officers then attempted to open the vehicle door to arrest him, before the 30-year-old brandished a firearm and refused to comply. Police then shot him and the man died in hospital on Monday.
Since pizzagate, there have been numerous accusations of politically motivated child abuse, particularly by the American far-right.
Source: BFM TV
