Posted June 23, 2017 10:58:51

Photo: Pizzagate gunman Edgar Maddison Welch surrendered to police in Washington. (AP: Sathi Soma (file photo))

An online conspiracy theory about a paedophile ring linked to former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, dubbed Pizzagate, has ended with real-world consequences for a man in Washington, DC.

Edgar Maddison Welch, 29, has been sentenced to four years in prison for arming himself with an assault rifle, travelling to Washington and firing his weapon inside a neighbourhood pizza restaurant.

The North Carolina man was there about a month after the election of US President Donald Trump to investigate unfounded internet rumours about prominent Democrats harbouring child sex slaves at Washington's Comet Ping Pong restaurant.

Judge Ketanji B Jackson said Welch's "ill-conceived plot" last year did "actual damage to the lives of real people" during his sentencing at US District Court in Washington.

Ms Jackson said she had never seen a case like Welch's and gave him a punishment on the upper end of guidelines, in part to send a message to others.

The judge said that if Welch believed an internet conspiracy theory that children were being harmed at the restaurant, he should have notified law enforcement, not attempted to take the law into his own hands.

Ms Jackson said it was "sheer luck" that no-one was physically injured when Welch entered Comet Ping Pong on December 4 armed with an AR-15 assault rifle and a revolver.

As diners and staff fled, leaving half-eaten pizza and cups of soda, Welch went through the restaurant.

At one point, he fired his AR-15 at a locked closet, but he discovered there were no children being held in the restaurant and surrendered peacefully.

Welch's sentence was just below the four and a half years prosecutors sought and above the one and a half years Welch's attorney asked for.

Welch came to Washington with 'intent of helping people'

Photo: Police secure the scene near Comet Ping Pong in Washington, after a man fired an assault rifle inside the restaurant. (AP: The Washington Post/Sarah Voisin)

During the hearing, Welch spoke briefly to apologise, saying he realised that his words "cannot undo or change what already happened".

In a letter filed with the court, he wrote that he is "truly sorry for endangering the safety of any and all bystanders who were present that day," but he did not talk about the conspiracy theory that motivated him to act.

He said that he came to Washington "with the intent of helping people I believed were in dire need of assistance".

He sat quietly in an orange jail jumpsuit throughout most of the hearing as his mother, father, sister and fiancee sat in the front of the courtroom.

Welch's attorney Dani Jahn said that Welch's actions were "reckless" and "misguided", but she said Welch, a father and former emergency medical technician, had acted with the intent of defending children.

Welch pleaded guilty in March to interstate transportation of a firearm and ammunition and assault with a dangerous weapon.

Restaurant owner details impact of Pizzagate

Though the rumours Welch went to investigate were unfounded, they have upended the lives of those who worked in the restaurant.

The restaurant's owner, James Alefantis, said in court that the "viscous web of lies" about his business has been traumatic for him and his staff.

He still needs security there, he said, and has suffered both emotionally and financially.

In letters to the judge and in court, employees described the terror of Welch's actions, with some saying they have depression and nightmares and need trauma counselling.

But Mr Alefantis also said he is hopeful that those who "perpetuate conspiracy will awake to the tangible harms that result from their actions".

"I am hopeful that one day reason will prevail before a shot rings out again in a place of warmth and love and communal gathering," he said.

AP/ABC

Topics: law-crime-and-justice, crime, community-and-society, internet-culture, information-and-communication, united-states