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Tuesday, November 3, 2026Nov 3

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Patrons use dough to back pizza place targeted by fake news

The front door of Comet Ping Pong pizza shop, in Washington, Monday, Dec. 5, 2016. A fake news story prompted a man to fire a rifle inside a popular Washington, D.C., pizza place as he attempted to "self-investigate" a conspiracy theory that Hillary Clinton was running a child sex ring from there, police said.  ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
The front door of Comet Ping Pong pizza shop, in Washington, Monday, Dec. 5, 2016. A fake news story prompted a man to fire a rifle inside a popular Washington, D.C., pizza place as he attempted to "self-investigate" a conspiracy theory that Hillary Clinton was running a child sex ring from there, police said. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) The front door of Comet Ping Pong pizza shop, in Washington, Monday, Dec. 5, 2016. A fake news story prompted a man to fire a rifle inside a popular Washington, D.C., pizza place as he attempted to "self-investigate" a conspiracy theory that Hillary Clinton was running a child sex ring from there, police said. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

WASHINGTON (AP) – There’s at least a slice of good news for a pizza restaurant in the nation’s capital that has been the target of fake news stories about a child sex trafficking ring.

In the days since a conspiracy theorist fired an assault weapon inside Comet Ping Pong, neighbors and patrons have turned out in droves to buy pizzas and leave homemade signs and flowers.

More than 2,000 people said on Facebook that they’re going to this weekend’s “Stand With Comet” event to support the pizza place and other restaurants targeted by fake news fanatics.