December 4, 2016. Edgar Welch drives from North Carolina to Washington D.C. with an AR-15, convinced he must rescue children trafficked in Comet Ping Pong pizzeria's basement. The conspiracy—claiming Hillary Clinton and Democrats ran a child sex ring based on "coded" WikiLeaks emails—spread through Reddit, 4chan, and Twitter, amplified by Alex Jones and right-wing media. Welch finds no children, no basement, no conspiracy—just a family restaurant and terrified staff. The episode examines how online echo chambers transform creative interpretation into collective delusion, how confirmation bias makes every detail seem confirmatory, and how algorithmic amplification creates radicalization pipelines. Pizzagate was prototype for QAnon and the January 6 Capitol riot, proving internet conspiracies motivate real-world violence when believers decide action is necessary.
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