‘Pizzagate’ shooter sentenced to 4 years in prison
Edgar Maddison Welch, who fired shots in a Washington, D. C., pizza restaurant in December, was sentenced to four years in prison for federal and local crimes.
Welch, 29, was arrested for firing an AR-15 inside the D. C. restaurant Comet Ping Pong, as he investigated an unfounded conspiracy theory dubbed « Pizzagate » that the restaurant was involved in a child sex-trafficking ring connected to Hillary Clinton .
Welch « carried a loaded AR-15 assault rifle and a revolver into a Northwest Washington pizza restaurant, scattering employees and customers, and fired his assault rifle into a door, » the U. S. Attorney’s Office for D. C. said in a statement announcing the sentence.
Welch received four years for a federal charge of interstate transportation of a firearm and ammunition and two years for a District of Columbia charge of assault with a dangerous weapon, to be served concurrently. He was also sentenced to 36 months of supervised release. He pleaded guilty to the charges in March.
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson called « the extent of the recklessness » of the defendant’s actions « breathtaking » as she sentenced Welch on Thursday.
Upon his release from prison, Welch will receive a mental health assessment. He was ordered to stay away from Comet Ping Pong.
