Ryan Jaselskis, a California man accused of starting a fire inside the restaurant at the center of the baseless “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory, was ordered held without bond Thursday by a federal magistrate in Washington, D.C.
Mr. Jaselskis, 22, was arrested Wednesday over a minor fire started late last month inside Comet Ping Pong. He made his initial appearance the following day in D.C. federal court before Magistrate Judge G. Michael Harvey, who ordered him held pending the outcome of a detention hearing set for Tuesday, February 19.
Federal prosecutors believe Mr. Jaselskis is the same individual captured by Comet’s surveillance cameras setting fire to a curtain inside the restaurant on the night on January 23. Traffic cameras have placed a vehicle in his name near the scene of the crime that evening, and he was positively identified by an eyewitness who was at the restaurant at the time, according to court documents filed on behalf of federal prosecutors.
He is accused of “maliciously damage and destroy, or attempted to damage and destroy, by means of fire and explosive materials, the building and its interior contents,” Michael Pavero, an officer with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), wrote in a court filing Wednesday.
No one was injured as a result of the fire, and it was extinguished by employees and patrons prior to emergency personnel arriving, Mr. Pavero wrote in the filing.
Mr. Jaselskis was arrested by U.S. Park Police on Feb. 4 after allegedly hopping a security fence erected around the Washington Monument on the National Mall, the ATF officer wrote in the filing. He was subsequently charged, released and re-arrested the following day after allegedly jumping the same barrier, Mr. Pavero wrote in a criminal complaint and an accompanying statement of facts.
Mr. Jaselskis was wearing a distinctive blue, white and red jacket during both arrests that ATF investigators later matched to one worn by the arsonist, Mr. Pavero wrote. Additionally, the same 2007 Toyota Matrix registered to Mr. Jaselskis and seen near Comet on the night of the fire was ticketed by parking enforcement on Feb. 5, 6, and 7 near the Washington Monument, according to the ATF officer.
A public defender representing Mr. Jaselskis in the case did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
Mr. Jaselskis is at least the second person from outside of D.C. to face serious legal repercussions for incidents that unfolded at Comet Ping Pong since the unfounded “Pizzagate” conspiracy emerged in late 2016, which falsely supposes the restaurant is the hub for an underground human trafficking ring.
Edgar Maddison Welch was sentenced in 2017 to four years in prison after he pleaded guilty in connection with firing a rifle inside the restaurant. A resident of North Carolina, Welch previously said that he had traveled to D.C. to personally investigate the conspiracy.
Investigators have not announced a possible motive for the fire.
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