The North Carolina man who commandeered a pizza restaurant at gunpoint in Northwest Washington to investigate a false Internet rumor of a pedophile ring there was sentenced to four years in in prison Thursday. In imposing the sentence, the judge said she was handing down a penalty she said was needed to uphold the rule of law against vigilante justice. They urged Jackson to send a strong message to deter those who would commit violence based solely on “malicious and misguided” Internet rumors. “A significant sentence is required to deter other people from pursuing vigilante justice based only on their YouTube feed,” prosecutors wrote. Welch binge-watched YouTube videos about the alleged child-trafficking ring on Dec. 1, setting a plan, court files show.

Source: Washington Post June 22, 2017 17:04 UTC