WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors have offered a plea deal to the North Carolina man charged with carrying an assault rifle into a D.C. pizza restaurant, firing the聽weapon and causing panic inside the business.
Edgar Welch, 28, appeared in court briefly Tuesday morning.聽Prosecutors mentioned that a deal had been extended to Welch, although the terms of the agreement were not聽disclosed.
U.S. District Judge Ketanji Jackson set another court hearing for Feb. 10. 聽In the meantime, she said, prosecutors must continue turning evidence over to the defense.
Welch pleaded not guilty last month to a number of charges.聽He is facing a federal count of interstate transportation of a firearm with the intent to commit a crime.聽He’s also facing two local charges, including assault with a dangerous weapon and possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime.
Welch was arrested Dec. 4 after police say he fired an AR-15-style rifle inside the Comet Ping Pong restaurant on Connecticut Avenue in Northwest.
known as “Pizzagate.”聽The story, circulated on social media, claimed Comet Ping Pong was a front for a聽child sex ring connected to Hillary Clinton and her campaign for president.
Court documents state it appeared Welch had been studying the story and planning for a 鈥渧iolent confrontation鈥� for several days before the incident.聽Welch聽spent hours watching YouTube videos about the conspiracy theory and also visited the restaurant鈥檚 website before texting two friends, according to evidence from聽his cellphone, the documents stated.
According to the documents, Welch texted a friend Dec. 2 asking whether he had any Army buddies nearby and whether they were 鈥渄own for the cause,鈥� which included聽鈥渞aiding a pedo ring, possibly sacraficing (sic) the lives of a few for the lives of many.鈥�
鈥淧edo ring鈥� is shorthand for pedophile ring.
During the Dec. 4 incident at the pizzeria, Welch told police he 鈥渟earched for evidence of hidden rooms or tunnels, or child sex trafficking of any kind,鈥� according to聽the documents.聽When he discovered a locked door, he 鈥渂ecame suspicious and attempted to force it open with a butter knife and then by shooting the lock.鈥�
There were no injuries, and Welch surrendered to police officers gathered outside the restaurant after he found no evidence of child sex trafficking.
