Armed man arrested at DC pizzeria targeted by conspiracy theory

D.C. Police on Sunday detained a man armed with an assault rifle outside of a popular pizza restaurant that became the focus of internet conspiracy theories during the election. 

{mosads}According to the Washington Post, police received a call about a man with a weapon after 3 p.m.

D.C. police said a suspect armed with an assault rifle was taken into custody. He was identified Sunday night as Edgar Maddison Welch of Salisbury, N.C., and told police he came to D.C. to “self-investigate Pizza Gate,” according to police.

.@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

There were no reports of injuries, but police said Welch fired one shot into the ground, according to Washingtonian.  

Widely spread and uncorroborated fake news stories published during the presidential campaign claimed that Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign chief was running a child-sex ring from the restaurant’s back rooms. 

While none of the stories were true, the restaurant’s owner had to contact the FBI, local police and social media platforms because of threats and in an effort to remove some of the articles. 

According to the Post, last month, Reddit banned the “pizzagate” topic.