@pgreenberger/Twitter
January 21, 2021, 7:11 am
Back in 2016, even before QAnon emerged to signal boost wild conspiracy theories, Washington, D.C.’s Ping Pong Comet—a combination pizzeria and concert venue—was accused of being the front for a child sex ring run by high-ranking Democrats.
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The hullabaloo known as “Pizzagate” has since been discredited, but it signaled that wild QAnon conspiracies had an audience.
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On Tuesday night, a group of protesters gathered outside Ping Pong Comet, as DCist noted, the group “expressed homophobic and anti-abortion views gathered outside the Chevy Chase restaurant for a protest.”
They were, in turn, “ultimately driven away by a group of residents who blasted Lady Gaga’s ‘Born This Way,’ among other tunes, and danced in front of the restaurant.”
Freelance reporter Daniel Newhauser noted, “Pretty normal night in front of Comet Ping Pong,” highlighting video he shared.
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Roll Call’s Mark Satter was also on the scene, noting that it was a “surreal scene in NW DC outside of Comet Pizza – the pizza place at the center of the Pizzagate conspiracy theory. Some kind of super-religious group yelling about pedophilia, and the restaurant responding by BLASTING Lady Gaga and drowning them out.”
Surreal scene in NW DC outside of Comet Pizza – the pizza place at the center of the Pizzagate conspiracy theory. Some kind of super religious group yelling about pedophilia, and the restaurant responding by BLASTING Lady Gaga and drowning them out.
Sound on
pic.twitter.com/7gktE5I4c3
— Mark Satter (@markdsatter) January 20, 2021
He updated the tweet a few minutes later to note that police came to the scene and that “Comet staff are still blasting music way louder than the protesters’ megaphones.”
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Peter Greenberger swooped in for a closer look on his Twitter account.
And Gaspard Le Dem caught the pivotal moment in the evening’s proceedings, when “patrons and neighbors of @cometpingpong DANCED AWAY a group of Q-Anon protesters last night to the tune of Lady Gaga’s ‘Perfect Illusion.'”
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Le Dem noted that a local resident, who showed up to help drive off the protesters, said, “I thought, you know what, I’m just not going to let them get away with this.”
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After the incident, the venue’s official Twitter account noted that “All is calm and safe!” adding that while “fear and hate showed up,” that “we and our neighbors danced them away” and “love wins.”
*First Published: January 21, 2021, 7:11 am
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