Pizzagate

In 2016, there was a rumour, mainly spread by the QAnon move- ment, that Hillary Clinton and other high-ranking politicians in the Democratic Party were running a child trafficking ring. The theory was based on Hillary Clinton‘s leaked emails during the presiden- tial campaign. Conspiracy theorists interpreted certain words and phrases in them as code words for illegal child trafficking. They believed that the children were being held captive and sexually abused in the basement of the Comet Ping Pong pizzeria in Wash- ington. Incited by this supposed scandal, an outraged supporter of the theory stormed the restaurant, heavily armed, to heroically free the poor children. Shortly before his arrest, however, he discovered that there was not even a basement in the pizzeria.