How customers saved me from conspiracy nuts who tried to destroy my business
James Alefantis | Comet Ping Pong → Pizzeria
Of all the bizarre turns in the 2016 presidential race, few top Pizzagate. The conspiracy theory, spread across alt-right media, centered on the idea that Hillary Clinton and John Podesta, one of her top aides, were running a secret child-trafficking ring out of a pizza place, Comet Ping Pong, in Washington, D.C. The story was ludicrous, but for Comet’s owner, James Alefantis, the nightmare was real and terrifying–from the first virulent posts online to the day a gunman stormed the pizzeria.
IT WAS ABOUT 9:30 OR 10 on the night of November 5 when I saw I had a voice mail from Will Sommer, a reporter at the Washington City Paper:
