A Man Has Been Charged With Trying To Burn Down The Restaurant At The Center Of The "Pizzagate" Cons
Source: BuzzFeed News
A Man Has Been Charged With Trying To Burn Down The Restaurant At The Center Of The "Pizzagate" Conspiracy
The DC pizza parlor has been at the center of a baseless far-right conspiracy theory that claims it secretly provides underage prostitutes to top Democrats.
Salvador Hernandez
BuzzFeed News Reporter
Last updated on February 14, 2019, at 9:53 p.m. ET
Posted on February 14, 2019, at 9:02 p.m. ET
A California man has been charged with intentionally setting a fire inside the Washington, DC, pizza parlor at the center of the debunked conspiracy theory known as "pizzagate," authorities said.
Ryan Rimas Jaselskis, of Los Angeles, was charged Wednesday with one count of arson in connection with the Jan. 23 fire at the Comet Ping Pong pizza restaurant, DC Metropolitan Police officials said in a statement.
Jaselskis' connection to the fire came two days after the 22-year-old was involved in an altercation with law enforcement at the Washington Monument where he was tased and taken into custody, an incident that was captured on video.
Authorities did not say whether the fire sparked inside Comet Ping Pong was linked to the Pizzagate conspiracy theory, but a restaurant employee told ABC affiliate WJLA that Jaselskis purchased three beers and left behind a diaper and baby food an apparent nod to the baseless viral claim after setting a thick black curtain on fire.
Read more: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/salvadorhernandez/pizzagate-conspiracy-comet-ping-pong-fire-dc-arrest
Judi Lynn
(160,545 posts)A 22-year-old man has been arrested on federal arson charges accusing him of intentionally setting a fire at Comet Ping Pong, a Washington D.C. pizza restaurant that has been the target of believers in the false Pizzagate conspiracy theory. Ryan Rimas Jaselskis, who is an actor, bodybuilder and model, was taken into custody on February 5 by U.S. Park Police officers while trying to climb the fence around the Washington Monument, WRC-TV reports.
Jaselskis, who uses the name Ryan Rimas in his acting and modeling career, entered the Comet Ping Pong restaurant on January 23 about 9:30 p.m. and set fire to curtains inside the eatery, federal prosecutors say. He was caught on surveillance video, which was released by the DC Metropolitan Police and ATF arson task force. The video showed a man in a blue and white jacket inside the Connecticut Avenue restaurant trying to knock down a camera as a fire burns in the background. No one was inside the restaurant and there were no injuries.
Comet Ping Pong has been targeted by conspiracy theorists over the thoroughly debunked Pizzagate conspiracy since the 2016 election. The theory falsely claims that high-ranking Democrats, including Hillary Clinton and John Podesta, are involved in a child sex trafficking ring with other members of the elite class, including other politicians and Hollywood celebrities.
Federal authorities have not yet said if they know Jaselskis motive for setting the fire inside Comet. But a YouTube page that features videos from his acting career that is in the name of his parents posted a video promoting the QAnon conspiracy theory on January 23, the same day the fire was set.
More:
https://heavy.com/news/2019/02/ryan-rimas-jaselskis/
Glamrock
(11,802 posts)Gore1FL
(21,132 posts)Glamrock
(11,802 posts)Bankrupt his slimey ass!
proud patriot
(100,707 posts)and all paid propagandists who told the lie
Initech
(100,081 posts)Fuck that guy!
Judi Lynn
(160,545 posts)The video was posted to Ryan Jaselskis' parents' YouTube account an hour before he allegedly tried to burn down the restaurant at the center of the massive internet conspiracy theory.
Feb. 14, 2019, 7:46 PM CST / Updated Feb. 14, 2019, 8:05 PM CST
By Brandy Zadrozny and Ben Collins
Federal prosecutors charged Ryan Jaselskis, a 22-year-old health and wellness coach in California, on Wednesday, alleging he attempted to burn down Comet Ping Pong, the pizza restaurant allegedly at the center of an internet conspiracy theory that falsely claims a sex ring run by celebrities and prominent Democrats is based out of its nonexistent basement.
The so-called Pizzagate conspiracy has been promulgated by far-right adherents since October 2016. It led to a shooting in the shop where no one was hurt in December 2016, when conspiracy theorist Edgar M. Welch demanded to see the child sex ring and fired a rifle several times. Welch is now serving a four-year prison sentence for the crime. And on Jan. 23, a fire broke out at Comet Ping Pong, which prosecutors allege was set by Jaselskis, citing surveillance footage.
A video posted to Jaselskis parents YouTube account the night of the fire seems to provide a possible link between the alleged arson and the disturbing conspiracy theory that became popular among a fringe group of Trump supporters during the 2016 election, and inspired a shooting in the restaurant that same year.
A video titled Melissa Video was posted to the YouTube account run by Paul and Chrissy Jaselskis at 8:07 p.m. ET on Jan. 23, alleging that the world is run by a Satanic global pedophile ring fronted by most major celebrities and Hillary Clinton.
More:
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/pizzagate-conspiracy-video-posted-youtube-account-alleged-arsonist-s-parents-n971891
Solly Mack
(90,773 posts)DinahMoeHum
(21,794 posts)n/t
Marie Marie
(9,999 posts)Now he faces jail for his future. Trump and the GOP are stirring up so much hatred I fear we will never recover from this.
AZ8theist
(5,477 posts)DorothyG
(95 posts)How could anyone believe it. It was theatre of the absurd.
Raster
(20,998 posts)Izzy Blue
(282 posts)"Federal authorities have not said if Ryan Rimas Jaselskis had a motive for setting the fire at Comet Ping Pong, including whether he was motivated by the Pizzagate conspiracy theory. Jaselskis known social media profiles do not show any indication that he is a follower of conspiracy theories.
But a YouTube channel that is in the name of Jaselskis parents posted a video on January 23, the same day as the Comet arson, promoting the debunked QAnon conspiracy theory.
jaselskis youtube qanon
A screenshot of the QAnon video uploaded by a YouTube channel connected to Jaselskis.
The video is a 9-minute sprawling overview of the conspiracy theory and promotes the coming storm, which followers of the theory believe will occur when President Trump makes public the arrests of those behind the child sex trafficking cabal and deep state.
.
The video is titled Melissa video. It is not clear if Jaselskis parents posted the video or if it was posted by Ryan Jaselskis. The YouTube channel features several videos that appear to have been created by Ryans mother, but also many videos about Ryans acting and modeling career.
Ryan Jaselskis family lives in South Carolina. He has also lived in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. His parents YouTube channel also includes several videos related to a Christian church in South Carolina, along with a weight loss program that his mother is involved in.
His parents could not be reached for comment".
https://heavy.com/news/2019/02/ryan-rimas-jaselskis/
BigmanPigman
(51,611 posts)"The NUT doesn't fall far from the tree". That seems to apply to this lovely family of kind, intelligent so-called Christians.
DorothyG
(95 posts)BigmanPigman
(51,611 posts)I think that this is a very hypocritical thing for a Christian to do since they say they are loving and kind to their fellow human beings in their churches all the time. This behavior doesn't seem very kind and loving to me but I guess I could be wrong.
"Ryan Jaselskis family lives in South Carolina. He has also lived in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. His parents YouTube channel also includes several videos related to a Christian church in South Carolina, along with a weight loss program that his mother is involved in."
DorothyG
(95 posts)thanks. though that appellation has been used by westboro as well so I am always suspicious...
BigmanPigman
(51,611 posts)I never heard of it before and now I am glad I didn't. I am NOT one of them or one of their supporters.
DorothyG
(95 posts)I was just pointing out that some who might appear to have a Christian association (like the perp in the original post) are not always Christians - I think Westboro is really just a cult of lawyers looking to provoke people into taking a swing at them and then suing the jurisdiction for not protecting them properly.
keithbvadu2
(36,829 posts)A "global pedophile ring"? - Not without Trump.
colsohlibgal
(5,275 posts)Believing that the Clintons were operating a child sex ring there is bad enough, but that it was in the basement, since this place has no basement, is a new level of brain dead.
ut oh
(895 posts)It exists in another dimension of course.... You have to perform the proper Satanic ritual (spoken in Aramaic, and repeated in Latin) to access the doorway.
Just in case people are not sure....
Mr. Frost
(75 posts)Initech
(100,081 posts)ut oh
(895 posts)Last edited Fri Feb 15, 2019, 09:22 PM - Edit history (1)
This is a key component to the whole "Hillary = evil" thing. If they admit they are wrong with that, then they would have to admit that the rest of their world is a complete fabrication. The cognitive dissonance would be so extreme it would rip a hole in spacetime.
Initech
(100,081 posts)Their minds are being controlled by a cybernetic entity and they're all Agent Smith at this point. However, that's because they chose to take the blue pill and they go back to believing whatever they want to believe.
truthisfreedom
(23,148 posts)Before he hurt someone.
snort
(2,334 posts)and his big idea was to burn them alive.
videohead5
(2,178 posts)Even have a basement so these people are completely nuts. The thing that makes me mad is they also believe Michelle Obama is a man in drag.
okaawhatever
(9,462 posts)basement and his solution/reaction to the problem was to set a fire which would likely have killed any kids in the basement due to the fact that they couldn't exit. So again... .a new low in humanity, a new high in stupidity, and one more proper example of irony. Thanks Trump.
NanceGreggs
(27,815 posts)
to believe that anyone no less prominent political people would run such an operation out of a popular DC restaurant?
Answer: Trump-grade stupid.