The threshold for launching a law enforcement investigation, or probe, of a possibly criminal matter has always been relatively straightforward. Where police have gathered, stumbled across, or been confronted with clear evidence that a serious crime has occurred, or is about to occur, it is incumbent upon law enforcement to act.

There is a difference between evidence and proof. Evidence consists of signs of a possible crime, a dead body, a bloody knife. Proof, in our justice system, can only be delivered under the rigorous standards of a court of law.

The obfuscation in Pizzagate is a textbook example of a smoke-blowing operation which has enlisted the highest levels of previously respectable major media organizations, for the purpose of confusing and denying to the public that there is anything which proves a crime. In this case the crime is the abuse and sexual exploitation of children. But evidence is not proof. It is only evidence. Police must investigate evidence which indicates possible serious criminal activity.

This is not what is happening in Pizzagate. This is why so many citizens are upset.

So just what is this evidence, which is essentially a pattern of obscene and violent images, found in the context of code talk in John Podesta's emails published by Wikileaks? Why is there such a concerted effort to squash even preliminary investigation which could rule out criminal activity?

John Podesta, recall, is Hillary Clinton's former campaign manager for her 2016 presidential run, and Bill Clinton's former chief of staff. Along with his brother Tony, they are two of the Democratic party's foremost power players wth connections which run deep into the Democratic establishment.

At some point in the past, a Washington DC - based band named Heavy Breathing played a show at a pizza shop in the city, which included a background video depicting child abuse. Without any further knowledge of the origin of the video or its authenticity, it would demand an investigation. There is little which can be made out visually in the video, but the sounds of an adult screaming at a child, and the child screaming "stop!" as if being tortured, are disturbing.

[ABBREVIATED VIDEO OF HEAVY BREATHING CONCERT, WARNING AUDIO IS GRAPHIC AND DISTURBING, NSFW]

It is obvious that nothing conclusive can be drawn from the video alone. This is what investigators are for, who knock on doors, ask questions, initially determine truthfulness, and investigate further if necessary. The fact that a possible victim may be apparent in the video ties law enforcement's hands and forces them to investigate. It doesn't matter in the least if the man's voice in the video is Podesta's or not, as some have speculated. A threshold for investigation has been clearly reached. Further discussion of the video is here.

On the 4th of July, 2013, libertarian Adam Kokesh posted a Youtube of himself loading a shotgun, illegally, within Washington DC city limits. Acting only on the posted video as evidence, DC police tracked Kokesh down, arrested him, and prosecuted him.

A 2012 DC culture and arts publication DCist.com confirms that the band Heavy Breathing plays at Comet Pizza.

In November of 2012 the New York Times ran an article by Cecilia Kang which violated the most fundamental rule of journalism, to at least attempt to strike an objective tone and present both sides, unless an article is clearly an op-ed. In "Fake News Onslaught Targets Pizzeria as Nest of Child-Trafficking," Kang reported:

"Musicians who have performed at Comet Ping Pong have been pulled in, too. Amanda Kleinman, whose band, Heavy Breathing, has performed there several times, deleted her Twitter account after the abusive comments became overwhelming."

Nowhere in Kang's article was any mention of the video played openly and in public by Heavy Breathing. In late 2016, a video of a Heavy Breathing performance was posted on Youtube in which the band's frontman "Majestic Ape" joked about pedophilia, saying "we all have preferences" to shouts from the audience to not forget about "boys." [VIDEO HERE]

As the Podesta emails posted by Wikileaks has led people to probe the public social media accounts of Podesta's social circle, bizarre, sexual, and violent images repeatedly surfaced in connection with continuous discussion of "pizza," often referring to children. In an interview with the friend of the Podesta brothers who is at the center of the controversy, Megyn Kelly of Fox News, in December of last year, showed an example of one of the images (below) posted by the DC pizza shop owner where Heavy Breathing plays. The owner, James Alefantis, told Kelly that the image of a little girl in a quasi-bondage position was only "play."

What Kelly did not address for the audience, and ask her guest to explain, were other images, clearly sexualized images of pizza, linked below.

IMAGE NOT ADDRESSED BY MEGAN KELLY: [WARNING OBSCENE ILLUSTRATION, INSTAGRAM TO PIZZA SHOP OWNER BEFORE REMOVED FROM INTERNET, NSFW]

And this week, it was reported in these pages that a collection of child porn was allegedly found in a password-protected area of the DC pizza shop's website. Steemit author Titus Frost wrote that the files had been sent on December 5, 2016 to a Marcus Stevens of DC's Metropolitan Police Department, and showed a screenshot of the email exchange.

CLICK FOR IMAGE: Image of confirmation of receipt of evidence by DC police



The possession of child porn is in itself a crime, and would merit investigation. Thanks to the work of citizen hackers and researchers, Pizzagate has been transformed from a highly speculative "group mind" exercise into Law Enforcement 101.

SEE ALSO: The #Pizzagate Primer for Dummies.