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Comment by cwkoss | Hacker News Reader

> We know someone opened fire a pizza place as a direct result of this.

Pizzagate resulted in someone firing a single shot at the lock on a closet door to open it. In a discussion of disinformation, I think your characterization is misleading and exemplary of disinformation as well - in a manner quite similar to the disinformation that led that individual to decide to do a vigilante raid on the pizza parlor.

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If we are going to be pedantic about it (in the interests of clearing up misinformation), it was 3 shots[1], and he pointed the gun at employees[2] before shooting at the closet.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizzagate_conspiracy_theory#Cr...

[2] https://www.starnewsonline.com/news/20161205/dc-pizza-place-...

Ah, thanks for clarifying. Previous coverage I'd read hadn't specified how many times he shot at the lock (ex. "shot through the lock of a closet") and I guess my brain interpreted that as 1.

Was able to find multiple corroborating sources for the 3 shots number.

No problem.

I find it amusing that I'm receiving downvotes for this clarification - I'd love to understand the reasons behind them. I assume they are idealogical, but what ideology find the difference between 1 and 3 gunshots significant?

Misinformation on HN, unfortunately, is real. Those companies discussed in the article also have accounts here.

"Opened fire" and "firing a single shot" are the same thing. I'm not sure what point you're trying to make.

The difference is that "opened fire" is a weasel word in this instance- it is misleading as it linguistically leaves open the interpretation that multiple people were injured or killed

Until I read cwkoss' comment right now I had always assumed someone came to the pizza joint and started firing rounds at people. I admit I'm not American so I never cared enough to look up what "opened fire" meant here, but I think it's evident what people will think of when they read that expression. Hint: not someone shooting a closet's lock once to open it.

It was multiple shots, and he pointed the gun at employees first. See my other comment for references.

Thank you for clarifying this. Based on the coverage I've seen, I had always been under the impression that a shooter shot multiple rounds at a group of people. I had no idea it was a single round directed at a lock in a door. It's amazing how dishonest the headlines and soundbite coverage of this event were.

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