Louisiana man pleads guilty to threatening shooting at D.C. pizzeria

[January 13, 2017]  (Reuters) - A Louisiana man pleaded guilty on Thursday to a federal charge that he threatened to carry out a shooting at a Washington D.C. pizzeria near another restaurant where days earlier a man opened fire as he investigated a fake news report, a prosecutor said.

Yusif Jones, 52, faces five years in prison after he pleaded guilty to one count of interstate threatening communications in Louisiana federal court when he will be sentenced on April 12, the office of United States Attorney Stephanie Finley said in a statement.

Jones also faces three years of supervised release and restitution and a $250,000 fine, the statement said.

Jones was accused of calling Besta Pizza on Dec. 7 and threatened to "shoot everyone in the place" in order to "save the kids." The call was traced back to Jones in Shreveport and he was arrested, the statement said.

The call was placed three days after Edgar Maddison Welch took a rifle into Comet Ping Pong restaurant down the street from Besta Pizza "to self-investigate" a fake news report known as "Pizza Gate" that it was operating a child abuse ring, police said.

The suspect entered the restaurant and pointed a gun at a restaurant employee, who fled and notified authorities, police said. The man then discharged the weapon inside the restaurant. There were no injuries.

In November, media outlets reported about death threats against the owner of the restaurant after internet postings said the restaurant was operating a child abuse ring led by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her top campaign aide.

Police said there was no active investigation of child abuse allegations there. The attack on Comet was considered an example of how fake news reports that proliferated during the election year affected people's lives.

(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Toby Chopra)

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