Back in early December, the Pizzagate situation took a bizarre turn for the worse when a gunman, since identified as 28-year-old North Carolina resident Edgar Welch, stormed the Comet Ping Pong pizza restaurant with a .38-caliber Colt revolver and an AR-15 in search of an alleged pedophilia ring thought to be tied to various members of Hillary's inner circle. After failing to find the evidence he sought, but not before letting off a couple of rounds inside the pizza joint in the process, Welch was arrested by Washington D.C. police.
After originally pleading not guilty on December 16th to a federal charge of interstate transportation of a firearm and ammunition and to two D.C. offenses: assault with a dangerous weapon and possessing a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence, Welch has now decided to enter into a plea deal with the U.S. Attorney's office. Per the Washington Post:
Terms of the plea offer to Edgar Maddison Welch, 28, of Salisbury, N.C., were not disclosed. The U.S. attorney’s office for the District and Welch’s federal defender said they had agreed on a “plea in principle,” but declined to comment further at a previously scheduled court appearance after a deadline to accept the deal or face trial expired Monday.
U.S. District Judge Ketanji B. Jackson ordered the parties to submit final terms to her by Monday and set a March 24 plea agreement hearing.
Under a plea deal, Welch would likely plead guilty to fewer or lesser charges, in return for prosecutors agreeing to a far shorter recommended sentence subject to federal guidelines that factor in variables such as a defendant’s criminal history, cooperation and other specific facts of the case.
In charging documents police said that Welch anticipated his raid of Comet Ping Pong could result in violence and tried to recruit two co-conspirators, citing text and calling records.
“Raiding a pedo ring, possible [sic] sacrificing the lives of a few for the lives of many,” Welch texted a friend two days before he drove to Washington in a Toyota Prius, according to federal prosecutors. The text continued: “Standing up against a corrupt system that kidnaps, tortures and rapes babies and children in our own backyard.”
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For those who missed it, here is our note on Welch's arrest back in December.
Pizzagate took a turn for the even more bizarre on Sunday, as a man with an assault rifle walked into Comet Ping Pong to "self-investigate" the Baltimore, Maryland, pizza parlor that internet conspiracy theorists say is at the center of an international child sex ring run by prominent Democrats. 28-year-old Edgar Maddison Welch, of Salisbury, N.C., reportedly fired the rifle at least once inside the restaurant but no one was injured.
As HeatSt.com reports, Washington, D.C., police arrested the man Sunday afternoon, after restaurant employees saw a man, described as being in his early 20s and carrying an “assault rifle,” work his way through the dining room and then attempt to enter the staff work area at the back of the building.
#Breaking : Major police presence near #comet pizza in #Northwest DC near the corner of Connecticut and Nebraska. Man arrested. pic.twitter.com/RrqaBt2kKR
— jeffgep (@jeffgep) December 4, 2016
Restaurant workers acted quickly, getting staff and patrons—including a number of children—to safety and dialing 911. Authorities were quick to respond. They subdued and arrested the man and secured the restaurant. No one was injured.
//www.washingtonpost.com/video/c/embed/0dbb67de-ba7b-11e6-ae79-bec72d34f8c9
The Washington Post noted that the incident caused panic, with several businesses going into lockdown as police swarmed the neighborhood after receiving the call shortly before 3 p.m.
Police said 28-year-old Edgar Maddison Welch, of Salisbury, N.C., walked in the front door of Comet Ping Pong and pointed a firearm in the direction of a restaurant employee. The employee was able to flee and notify police. Police said Welch proceeded to discharge the rifle inside the restaurant.
The man told police he had come to the restaurant to “self-investigate” the election-related conspiracy theory.
Police said in addition to the assault rifle, they also recovered two firearms inside the restaurant; an additional weapon was recovered in Welch’s car. Bomb-sniffing dogs and at least one armored vehicle were present at the scene.
He has been charged with assault with a dangerous weapon.
DC Police Press Release on the arrest...
.@DCPoliceDept press release on arrest of Edgar Maddison Welch, 28, of Salisbury, NC for assault w/dangerous weapon at Comet restaurant. pic.twitter.com/IkSJUeHM2y
— Deputy Mayor Donahue (@SafeDC) December 5, 2016
One can't help but wonder, as Congress considers a bill “to counter active measures by the Russian Federation to exert covert influence,” whether this is yet another false flag to raise awareness of what is a possible outcome of "fake news"?