Pizzagate is a conspiracy theory developed in November 2016 alleging that a pedophile ring is operated out of a Hillary Clinton-linked venue, the famous Washington D.C. pizzeria Comet Ping Pong. The ring was supposedly run by Comet Ping Pong owner James Alefantis, who posted offensive photos of children on his Instagram, even though he has no children. One depicted a baby girl strapped to a table, another featured Alefantis with two shirtless men wearing a graphic tee that read "I <3 children" in French. Alefantis' brother also posted a photo claiming to be with his favorite "pedo".

The theory originated with pizza mentions in leaked John Podesta emails. The theory and purported evidence trended on Reddit. Reddit and Wikipedia have since censored Pizzagate from their sites, brushing it off as a "debunked conspiracy".

Alefantis has reported harassment resulting from what has been described as fake news and claims it is just an urban legend and prank.

On Dec. 4, Edgar M. Welch, a 28-year-old from North Carolina, arrived at Comet with a military-style rifle and a handgun.

The police said he fired the rifle inside the pizzeria, hurting no one, and surrendered after finding no evidence to support claims of child slaves being held there.