Edgar Maddison Welch, who fired an AR-15 rifle at Comet Ping Pong restaurant, makes plea on same day as Alex Jones offers statement to restaurant’s owner

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

The gunman who fired an AR-15 rifle in a Washington DC pizza restaurant as he “self-investigated” a bogus conspiracy theory pleaded guilty on Friday, the same day a prominent conspiracy theorist apologized for spreading the story.

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Edgar Maddison Welch, 28, made a deal with prosecutors to plead guilty to two charges, assault with a dangerous weapon and interstate transport of a firearm, in exchange for prosecutors dropping a third charge that carried a five-year minimum sentence.

In early December last year, Welch drove from his home in North Carolina to the Comet Ping Pong restaurant, which he had heard was the center of a sprawling, plot involving the occult, child sex slaves and Democratic leaders such as John Podesta, chairman of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

Welch later told police he wanted to “self-investigate” the fictitious online rumors, which began after Podesta’s hacked emails, released by WikiLeaks, showed he had considered a possible fundraiser with the pizzeria’s owner.

Those emails transformed into a conspiracy about child abuse on the anonymous message board 4chan, seeped out on to forums like Reddit and Facebook, and were amplified by spurious websites such as InfoWars, which is run by Alex Jones, a prominent conspiracy theorist who has interviewed Donald Trump.

The false story crept into the president’s circle last December. Michael G Flynn, who was on Trump’s transition team with his father, the retired general Michael T Flynn, tweeted his belief that the so-called “pizzagate” conspiracy would “remain a story” until “proven to be false”. Trump ordered Flynn’s son fired.

According to texts cited by prosecutors, Welch believed he was doing a public service.

“Raiding a pedo ring, possibly sacraficing [sic] the lives of a few for the lives of many,” Welch wrote to one friend. “Standing up against a corrupt system that kidnaps, tortures and rapes ­babies and children in our own back yard.”

He added: “I’m sorry bro, but I’m tired of turning the channel and hoping someone does something and being thankful it’s not my family. One day it will be our families. The world is too afraid to act and I’m too stubborn not to.”

When he went to Washington, Welch took with him the assault weapon, a .38 revolver and a 12-gauge shotgun. When he walked into the restaurant, diners, including families with children, fled in panic.

According to court documents, Welch fired the rifle several times at a locked closet door, damaging computer equipment, and aimed the gun at an employee who had entered the back of the restaurant and promptly ran back out. No one was injured.

Welch later said he regretted his actions.

The court set Welch’s sentencing hearing for 22 June. He faces between 18 and 60 months in prison, though prosecutors have not indicated how severe a sentence they will seek. In his guilty plea, Welch agreed to pay about $5,700 for damage done to the restaurant.

Also on Friday, Jones apologized for promoting the conspiracy. In a nearly six-minute video, he read a statement in which he apologized to James Alefantis, the owner of Comet Ping Pong, and tried to minimize his role in spreading the rumors.

“I made comments about Mr Alefantis that in hindsight I regret, and for which I apologize to him,” Jones said. “We relied on third-party accounts of alleged activities and conduct at the restaurant. We also relied on accounts of reporters who are no longer with us.”

The InfoWars story, Jones admitted, “was based upon what we now believe was an incorrect narrative”. He said that he did not believe Alefantis had any legal claim against InfoWars, which has taken its relevant broadcasts offline.

“We are issuing this statement because we think it is the right thing to do,” Jones said. “It is never easy to admit when your commentaries are based on inaccurate information, but we feel like we owe it to you, the listeners, viewers and supporters, to make that statement, and give an apology to you and to Mr Alefantis.”

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As the story spread last fall, Alefantis and his employees received hundreds of death threats. In a statement on Friday, the restaurant owner said that the apology, “while welcome, does nothing to address the harm he and his company have done to me, my business, and my community”.

Jones claims that he sometimes speaks with the president by phone. Before his election, Trump sat for an interview with the InfoWars host.

Both men have spread false stories that “thousands” of American Muslims cheered the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, that Barack Obama was not born in the US, and that Senator Ted Cruz’s father was involved in the assassination of John F Kennedy.

After five years of promoting the falsehood about Obama’s birth certificate, Trump admitted last fall that Obama was American.

“We encourage you to hold us accountable,” Jones said on Friday. “We improve when you do.”