pizzagate

A North Carolina man who fired an assault rifle inside a District of Columbia restaurant during his investigation of a conspiracy theory dubbed "pizzagate" was sentenced Thursday to four years in p

The radio host apologized for "commentary" urging listeners to investigate a false conspiracy theory involving a Washington, D.C. pizzeria. A man later brought guns there and fired shots inside.

Edgar Maddison Welch accepted a plea deal over his armed confrontation at the Comet Ping Pong restaurant in Washington, D.C., last year. The North Carolina man says he was motivated by online rumors.

Some text and videos that spread false information about a Washington, D.C., pizza restaurant were taken down after a man went there with a gun to "self-investigate."

Federal investigators say Edgar Welch spent days planning his confrontation at Comet Ping Pong in Washington, D.C., over a rumor linking the restaurant to a child sex ring.

"The epidemic of malicious fake news and fake propaganda that flooded social media over the past year, it's now clear that so-called fake news can have real-world consequences," she said.