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Fake news report led gunman to restaurant

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Man thought restaurant was operating a child abuse ring

WASHINGTON A man who took a rifle into a Washington pizza restaurant on Sunday "to self-investigate" a fake news report that it was operating a child abuse ring has been charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, police in the US capital said.

Washington's Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement that Edgar Maddison Welch, 28, of Salisbury, North Carolina, was charged after the incident at Comet Ping Pong restaurant in Washington, near the Maryland border, on Sunday afternoon.

The suspect entered the restaurant and pointed a gun at a restaurant employee, who fled and notified authorities, police said.

NO ONE HURT

The man then discharged the weapon inside the restaurant.

There were no injuries.

Two weapons were found inside the restaurant and a third one was recovered from the man's vehicle, police added.

They said the suspect "revealed that he came to the establishment to self-investigate 'Pizza Gate' (a fictitious online conspiracy theory)" during an interview with investigators, the police statement said.

Last month, media outlets including the Washington Post and New York Times, reported about death threats against the owner of the restaurant after Internet postings said the restaurant was operating a child abuse ring led by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her top campaign aide.

NO INVESTIGATION

Police said there was no active investigation of child abuse allegations there.

The attack on Comet was considered an example of how fake news reports that proliferated during the election year affected people's lives.

A Reuters witness at the restaurant with his year-old child said it was crowded when the gunman entered, with many families dining.

The Reuters witness who was inside Comet at around 3pm said he was paying his bill when he saw a man entering the restaurant's front door.

"It appeared to us he had a long rifle with him.

We scattered," he said.

- REUTERS

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