Possible arson fire at 'Pizzagate' pizzeria

[essentialsaltes]

A sudden fire broke out inside Comet ping-pong Pizza around nine p.m. on Wednesday.

One man saw the curtains in the back of the restaurant suddenly burst into flames. He pulled them to the ground while employees doused them with fire extinguishers, and he's also suspicious.

" I smelled what smelled like a lot of lighter fluid," he said. "My suspicion is it’s arson, I don’t have the evidence on that."

DC Fire is currently reviewing evidence, and will make a determination about whether or not the fire was arson.

 

[USincognito]

Can't wait to hear that it's a false flag operation from the usual suspects.

 

[Ana the Ist]

I feel bad for that pizzeria.

It's amazing how easily false allegations can mess up the lives of otherwise decent people.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

...when people write conspiracy theories (and theorists) off as just comedy fodder, they need to keep certain things in mind.

Conspiracy theories aren't always just harmless sources of comic relief. Some are...but some have a much more sinister impact. They can have real-world impacts if the people who buy into them are deranged.

Just like when parents (who just had to bury their dead elementary school students) had to deal with death threats and vandalism from Alex Jones listeners who were attacking them because they though they were just secret "deep state agents" who were actors, working on behalf of advancing a gun control agenda...it wouldn't surprise me in the least if some deranged whack job who bought into "PizzaGate" theories out of democrat-hatred decided to take action.

 

[Nithavela]

...when people write conspiracy theories (and theorists) off as just comedy fodder, they need to keep certain things in mind.

Conspiracy theories aren't always just harmless sources of comic relief. Some are...but some have a much more sinister impact. They can have real-world impacts if the people who buy into them are deranged.

Just like when parents (who just had to bury their dead elementary school students) had to deal with death threats and vandalism from Alex Jones listeners who were attacking them because they though they were just secret "deep state agents" who were actors, working on behalf of advancing a gun control agenda...it wouldn't surprise me in the least if some deranged whack job who bought into "PizzaGate" theories out of democrat-hatred decided to take action.

Even if only 0.1% of people believe such a thing and even if 0.1% of those are insane enough to "take matters into their own hands", that's still several hundred people in the USA.

 

[Ana the Ist]

...when people write conspiracy theories (and theorists) off as just comedy fodder, they need to keep certain things in mind.

Conspiracy theories aren't always just harmless sources of comic relief. Some are...but some have a much more sinister impact. They can have real-world impacts if the people who buy into them are deranged.

Just like when parents (who just had to bury their dead elementary school students) had to deal with death threats and vandalism from Alex Jones listeners who were attacking them because they though they were just secret "deep state agents" who were actors, working on behalf of advancing a gun control agenda...it wouldn't surprise me in the least if some deranged whack job who bought into "PizzaGate" theories out of democrat-hatred decided to take action.

We aren't just talking about "conspiracy theories" though....we're talking about any accusations against someone that are baseless or without evidence.

All too often, people are making these accusations against someone just to feel morally superior to them....whether it's calling the Clintons insiders in a pedo ring, calling Kavanaugh a rapist, or calling anyone in a MAGA hat a racist.

They all have real world repercussions and everyone should at least wait for some real evidence before laying these accusations on someone.

 

[durangodawood]

Even if only 0.1% of people believe such a thing and even if 0.1% of those are insane enough to "take matters into their own hands", that's still several hundred people in the USA.

Would be great if it was only 0.1% who believed this garbage.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

Would be great if it was only 0.1% who believed this garbage.

...I was just gonna say, 0.1 is an unrealistically optimistic. If the 40% of GOP who believed the birther conspiracies are any indicator, I fear the numbers for other conspiracy theories are probably depressingly high.

whether it's calling the Clintons insiders in a pedo ring, calling Kavanaugh a rapist, or calling anyone in a MAGA hat a racist.

I would agree with the two in blue being moral & practical equivalents...but I hope you're not suggesting that "PizzaGate" and the Kavanaugh accusations are on equal footing in terms of being realistic or worth looking into.

Sexual assault is unfortunately common, so to think that it couldn't happen involving someone high up in the societal ladder would be naive. Government officials in the US running elite pedo-rings on the other hand...not so common.

IE: The right's response of trying to immediately dismiss her accusations against Kavanaugh (without even wanting to look into it) isn't same as an immediate dismissal of something outlandish like Pedo Pizza theories.

 

[Ana the Ist]

I would agree with the two in blue being moral & practical equivalents...but I hope you're not suggesting that "PizzaGate" and the Kavanaugh accusations are on equal footing in terms of being realistic or worth looking into.

The accusations have the same level of evidence to back them up.

One is an accusation that certain officials have been using a pizza shop as a pedo ring.

The other accusation is a sort of maybe attempted rape.

Sexual assault is unfortunately common, so to think that it couldn't happen involving someone high up in the societal ladder would be naive. Government officials in the US running elite pedo-rings on the other hand...not so common.

Actually, did you see the whole Sascha Baron Cohen thing where he interviewed a Vegas concierge while pretending to be a pedo?

Obviously, there's no reason to believe anyone else is involved in such things, but that's not the point. The point is the evidence involved.

It doesn't matter if they accusation is something relatively common or super rare....there's no reason to believe them without evidence.

 

[KCfromNC]

Can't wait to hear that it's a false flag operation from the usual suspects.

Yes, I've been assured multiple times that only "leftists" are violent.

 

[durangodawood]

The accusations have the same level of evidence to back them up....

I didnt hear about the 'pizzagate' victim testimony.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Fire investigators determined the fire was arson and later released these photos of a suspect:

 

[Trogdor the Burninator]

Would be great if it was only 0.1% who believed this garbage.

Yep. Conspiracy theories and anti-intellectualism has been taking hold for a while now. Witness the amount of flat-earthers on the internet these days.

 

[Trogdor the Burninator]

They all have real world repercussions and everyone should at least wait for some real evidence before laying these accusations on someone.

I honestly think the only way to stop this kind of thing is to track down some people who repeated the allegations in a public forum (usually on the internet) and sue them. Every time it happens again, sue more of them. The conspiranuts will claim this is part of the conspiracy to silence them of course, but at least it will force them to shut up.

 

[Go Braves]

Was the fire in the nonexistent basement?

 

[Ana the Ist]

I didnt hear about the 'pizzagate' victim testimony.

Does it matter? In both cases, an accusation was made that had no evidence to support it. In both cases, the evidence we did have contradicted the accusation. The pizza shop didn't have a basement...and those at the party didn't remember Kavanaugh being there.

Yet in both cases...people believed in the accusation because it painted the perpetrators as morally deficient. It let people believe that they were right about those who disagree with them. People wanted to believe the Clintons were abusing children just like they wanted to believe Kavanaugh was a potential rapist.

There's no evidence for either...and in both cases, it's the person who is being accused who has to deal with the consequences.

 

[durangodawood]

Does it matter? In both cases, an accusation was made that had no evidence to support it. In both cases, the evidence we did have contradicted the accusation. The pizza shop didn't have a basement...and those at the party didn't remember Kavanaugh being there.

Yet in both cases...people believed in the accusation because it painted the perpetrators as morally deficient. It let people believe that they were right about those who disagree with them. People wanted to believe the Clintons were abusing children just like they wanted to believe Kavanaugh was a potential rapist.

There's no evidence for either...and in both cases, it's the person who is being accused who has to deal with the consequences.

An actual alleged victim willing to testify before congress is a heck of a lot more evidence than we ever saw for "pizzagate".

 

[DanishLutheran]

I would agree with the two in blue being moral & practical equivalents...but I hope you're not suggesting that "PizzaGate" and the Kavanaugh accusations are on equal footing in terms of being realistic or worth looking into.

But they are.
Both are completely without any kind of merit whatsoever, and the only thing backing them are the words of those who brought the accusations.
What you're suggesting, is the same as saying: "All my side has to do is find someone willing to cry rape, and we should win by default".

That manure should not fly.

Sexual assault is unfortunately common, so to think that it couldn't happen involving someone high up in the societal ladder would be naive.

Except even IF that accusation had been true (let's assume for the sake of argument that it is, and that it isn't in fact a pile of horse manure the height of the most optimistic imagination of Trump's border wall), it would have happened 30 years ago, when Kavanaugh was 15.
Newsflash: He was not "high up in the societal ladder" at that age.

IE: The right's response of trying to immediately dismiss her accusations against Kavanaugh (without even wanting to look into it)

Alright, to illustrate:
Hey, ThatRobGuy raped me 20 years ago, therefore he should be fired from any job he might have, and not be able to get another. Because he's a rapist. Evidence? Who needs evidence? I said it, don't you #believevictims?

See how nonsensical your logic is?

 

[DanishLutheran]

I honestly think the only way to stop this kind of thing is to track down some people who repeated the allegations in a public forum (usually on the internet) and sue them. Every time it happens again, sue more of them. The conspiranuts will claim this is part of the conspiracy to silence them of course, but at least it will force them to shut up.

So, you think that Ford and the other Kavanaugh-accusers should not only face charges for lying to Congress, but be sued back to the stone age too?

 

[Trogdor the Burninator]

So, you think that Ford and the other Kavanaugh-accusers should not only face charges for lying to Congress, but be sued back to the stone age too?

If people make public accusations that are false, they should be sued. That's how libel works. I don't care which side of the partisan games they're on.