The Comet Ping Pong Gunman Answers Our Reporter’s Questions

The Comet Ping Pong Gunman Answers Our Reporter’s Questions

WASHINGTON — Edgar M. Welch, 28, of Salisbury, N.C., was arrested Sunday after firing a gun inside a pizza restaurant in Washington as he investigated false claims in online articles that the pizzeria was at the center of a child sex slave ring, the police said. No one was injured by the gunfire, and Mr. Welch surrendered peacefully. The pizzeria, Comet Ping Pong, had been swept into a conspiracy theory, which linked the supposed ring to Hillary Clinton, because its owner had corresponded with the Clinton campaign about a fund-raising dinner.

On Wednesday, I spoke with Mr. Welch, who goes by his middle name, Maddison, by videoconference at an old hospital building adjacent to the city’s jail. In his first news media interview since his arrest, Mr. Welch appeared downcast and at times distracted as he answered questions for 45 minutes, the maximum time allowed by the jail. “I just wanted to do some good and went about it the wrong way,” he said.

It's not formatted in the traditional Q&A type interview. The author provides some snippets in quotation marks, but for the most part, paraphrases for Welch. It's not too long, and it's really not all that informative, but did provide this much:

What was his original plan?

Mr. Welch, the father of two daughters, said he woke up Sunday morning and told his family he had some things to do. He left “Smallsbury,” a nickname for his hometown, for the 350-mile drive to Washington with the intention of giving the restaurant a “closer look” and then returning home. He wanted to “shine some light on it.” As he made his way to Washington, he felt his “heart breaking over the thought of innocent people suffering.” Once he got to the pizzeria, there was an abrupt change of plans. Mr. Welch would not say why he took a military-style assault rifle inside the restaurant and fired it. According to court documents, Mr. Welch said he had come armed to help rescue the children.

The article spends more time describing the author's impression of Welch than anything else -- and of course has to touch on his conspiracy creds (Alex Jones and InfoWars), as well as his Christianity (including scripture tattoos.)

All in all, left me with far more questions than answers. It may just be the ever-growing cynic in me, but this just read to me as propaganda... an effort to frame the narrative. "See? All this fake news makes people do crazy stuff so stop it!!!" And then I tell myself that's just too easy. So I don't know what to make of it all yet.

Leftists. 8958930875432 murders
Right. A shot into the ceiling


Yea he did go about it the wrong way.A little delusional too. I do think something is going on with the whole pizza thing, I mean delusional as far as "saving the children with my rifle" Glad nobody got hurt.

Careful, we don't want the thought police offended by discussing "fake news"....on a friggin conspiracy website...ahh the irony

-Chris

originally posted by: iTruthSeeker

...Yea he did go about it the wrong way.A little delusional too.

This is one of the things I find sooooooo strange about the situation. According to Heavy.com, regarding his father:

Harry Welch Jr. is a former police officer, firearms instructor and expert witness on firearms, according to his IMDB profile. He also writes that his family has hosted foster children and has worked to prevent child abuse.

He was, “elected President of the North Carolina Crime Stoppers Association (two terms). Served as Executive Director for Protect-A-Child, a national, non-profit organization to prevent abuse and abduction of children. Appointed by Governor Jim Martin to the Governor’s Commission on Child Victimization.”

With his dad's experience and position and connections, why didn't he go to his father??? This guy knows there are proper and official procedures to follow, and had immediate access to official routes, so why would he go lone wolf? It just doesn't make sense...

originally posted by: Christosterone
Careful, we don't want the thought police offended by discussing "fake news"....on a friggin conspiracy website...ahh the irony

-Chris

I think we're safe... the author made sure to note it was a "false" conspiracy right from the gitgo... as long as we pretend we believe that, and just discuss the crazy who didn't believe it was fake news, we'll be okay....

The Newser article that covered the original has a link to another pizza place called Roberta's. I did some digging and found a bunch of strange artwork related to the restaurant and surrounding area. A lot of art contained the "All Seeing Eye," three eyes or more, inverted crosses, skulls, etc.

Strange...

This is all starting to play out like a tv show or movie
Meaning I'm starting to believe this person who is an actor is just playing his part. After pizza gate was starting to get big and going viral tptb had to do something to turn it into a sht show. Even the guy who spoke with aj who was a witness to this event and been the only witness giving his story to multiple outlets specifically his aj interview it was like he was giving a review of the pizza place.

Whether or not pizza gate is real, this happening and this gunman are bogus.

a reply to: Boadicea


I am from the UK and I have to admit to some cynicism.

Here in the UK we have a real life situation of child abuse in the football

game which is going back some 40 years and is moving to other countries

as the perpetrators have moved around over time.


Understandably the news here is full of it ^^^^^ But the news here

has also been commentating on as they put it *Fake news* from the US.


Now in ALL my years of watching/listening to the news, something labeled

*fake news* would never have had the prominence to be reported on!

I find it very STRANGE.................

originally posted by: eisegesis
The Newser article that covered the original has a link to another pizza place called Roberta's. I did some digging and all I found was a bunch of strange artwork related to the restaurant with the "All Seeing Eye" a part of many of them. A lot of art with three eyes or more, inverted crosses, skulls, etc.

Strange...

And creepy.

Thanks for the link. Don't know how, but somehow I didn't see that before. D'oh!

The evidence is insurmountable that SOMETHING is odd about this situation.

The deafening silence from the people involved is making it even more believable and the corresponding coverup happening all over the media and alternative media is adding even more fuel to the fire.

originally posted by: justneo
This is all starting to play out like a tv show or movie
Meaning I'm starting to believe this person who is an actor is just playing his part. After pizza gate was starting to get big and going viral tptb had to do something to turn it into a sht show. Even the guy who spoke with aj who was a witness to this event and been the only witness giving his story to multiple outlets specifically his aj interview it was like he was giving a review of the pizza place.

Whether or not pizza gate is real, this happening and this gunman are bogus.

Yeah, it is playing out like a "B" movie script with holes big enough to drive a Mack truck through. It seems so obvious that I tell myself there has to be more to it... but then I remind myself that some folks are so ignorant they don't even know how ignorant they are, and assume that everyone is just as ignorant... as in "tee hee hee! I'm so smart and they're so dumb they'll never figure this out."

And when you have a complicit media that will rubber-stamp anything and everything as "fake news" -- even when the "news" won't touch it with a ten-foot pole! -- it becomes quite easy to live the lie.

Except for us darn conspiracy theorists...

a reply to: eletheia

I find it very STRANGE.................

I have wondered if the UK pedophilia investigations have uncovered links with the USA. I'm betting it has. And I'm betting there are folks desperately trying to cover those connections up.

My worst fear is that this is even bigger than any of us can imagine (just because our minds would never go to those depths of depravity).

a reply to: Boadicea

As soon I read that he just shot randomly into a wall and gave up I had my suspicions. Maybe, over time, more will come out about this guy and some other connections will be found....because as of now all we have is he is an actor, and that this just smells to high heaven of a false flag.

originally posted by: Darkmadness
The evidence is insurmountable that SOMETHING is odd about this situation.

The deafening silence from the people involved is making it even more believable and the corresponding coverup happening all over the media and alternative media is adding even more fuel to the fire.

That's the truth. No official recognition of the story... at all... not even the obligatory denial... until it was branded "fake news." Since when is a blog even considered news???

originally posted by: Boadicea

originally posted by: Darkmadness
The evidence is insurmountable that SOMETHING is odd about this situation.

The deafening silence from the people involved is making it even more believable and the corresponding coverup happening all over the media and alternative media is adding even more fuel to the fire.

That's the truth. No official recognition of the story... at all... not even the obligatory denial... until it was branded "fake news." Since when is a blog even considered news???

Since the blogs starting uncovering something so damning it would topple some of the most powerful people on the planet.....or alternatively, tptb blamed the blogs and conspiracy sites for swinging the election to an unfavorable results. take your pick I guess.

a reply to: Boadicea

Why wouldn't the mainstream media just do a few shows debunking it?

Nope.

What do they do?

Pretend it doesn't exist.

Just like they are trying to do on ATS. Pretend the evidence doesn't exist.

originally posted by: Boadicea
Served as Executive Director for Protect-A-Child, a national, non-profit organization to prevent abuse and abduction of children.

Hm...I can't seem to find this national, non-profit organization, 'Protect-A-Child," with a google search.

originally posted by: MotherMayEye

originally posted by: Boadicea
Served as Executive Director for Protect-A-Child, a national, non-profit organization to prevent abuse and abduction of children.

Hm...I can't seem to find this national, non-profit organization, 'Protect-A-Child," with a google search.

Kind of odd for a national organization like that not to have some sort of web page......will have to do some searching myself too.

originally posted by: annoyedpharmacist
a reply to: Boadicea

As soon I read that he just shot randomly into a wall and gave up I had my suspicions.

Yeah, that got my hackles up as well. For guy on a mission you'd think he'd have a batter plan... especially after that long drive. Plenty of time to think and plot.

Maybe, over time, more will come out about this guy and some other connections will be found....because as of now all we have is he is an actor, and that this just smell to high heaven of a false flag.

That's something else that's weird. So little basic information on the guy. I haven't even been able to find out where he works -- or if he works! We know more about his father than him.

His dad is intimately involved in child protection organizations. Why didn't he go to his dad? Did he not trust his own father? Or the organizations?

Or was he doing this FOR his dad???

Because at this point, faced with this deafening silence, I can't help but wonder if these child protection organizations aren't just a bunch of pedos protecting themselves...

a reply to: annoyedpharmacist

Since the blogs starting uncovering something so damning it would topple some of the most powerful people on the planet.....or alternatively, tptb blamed the blogs and conspiracy sites for swinging the election to an unfavorable results. take your pick I guess.

I think I'll pick both. When you think about it, the two go hand-in-hand.