r/Pizzagate, the Conspiracy Theory, and the Comet Ping Pong Shooting
November–December 2016
Reddit hosted r/pizzagate, where the false 'Pizzagate' conspiracy was incubated and named individuals and a D.C. pizzeria were targeted; weeks after Reddit banned it for doxxing, a gunman fired a rifle inside the restaurant.
What happened
In late 2016 the false 'Pizzagate' conspiracy theory falsely claimed that hacked emails contained coded references tying Democratic figures and Washington, D.C. businesses, including Comet Ping Pong pizzeria, to a child-trafficking ring. Reddit's r/pizzagate became a central venue where users compiled and amplified the claims, posting the names, photos, and personal details of restaurant owners, employees, and other private individuals.
On November 23, 2016, Reddit banned r/pizzagate, citing its anti-doxxing policy and stating, 'We don't want witchhunts on our site.' On December 4, 2016, Edgar Maddison Welch, a 28-year-old from North Carolina, drove to Comet Ping Pong and fired an AR-15-style rifle inside the restaurant, saying he had come to 'self-investigate' the conspiracy. No one was injured. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four years in prison in June 2017.
Reddit was one of several platforms (alongside Twitter, 4chan, and partisan media) where Pizzagate spread, so its causal role should not be overstated; the conspiracy was multi-platform. Nonetheless, Reddit served as a key incubator and coordination point for the doxxing of named, innocent people before its ban.
Impact
The conspiracy produced sustained harassment and threats against private individuals and a real-world armed attack on a business. It became a landmark example of online misinformation and coordinated doxxing escalating to offline violence, and it sharpened scrutiny of platforms' anti-doxxing enforcement.