Employees at Roberta's, the popular Brooklyn pizzeria known for its Neapolitan pies and hourslong waits for a table, received phoned-in threats amid social media rumors that it was connected to a bizarre fake news conspiracy theory known as "pizzagate," according to DNAinfo.
The news site reports that workers at the popular East Williamsburg pizzeria received calls on Dec. 1 and Dec. 2 from people referencing the conspiracy theory that claims that Hillary Clinton and her campaign manager run a child sex abuse ring out of a Washington D.C. pizzeria.
In the first call, DNAinfo reports that the caller told the worker who picked up the phone "you are going to bleed and be tortured." The next afternoon, someone asked if Roberta's had any connection to the fake news site that first published content on the conspiracy theory.
The NYPD confirmed to NBC 4 New York that the pizzeria filed a complaint for aggravated harassment after the calls.
Earlier this month, a gunman who said he was investigating the conspiracy theory opened fire in Comet Ping Pong, the pizzeria named by the fake news site. No one was injured, but it came after the pizzeria was targeted by death threats.
Twitter users, meanwhile, have drawn connections between Clinton campaign manager John Podesta's emails, which were hacked and then published by WikiLeaks, and Comet Ping Pong. Users of the online message board 4Chan saw Podesta had emailed Comet Ping Pong about hosting a Clinton fundraiser, then speculated Comet Ping Pong was part of a Democratic child trafficking ring.
Politifact, however, has found the conspiracy theory "fails to rise above rumor or hoax.
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Other pizzerias across the country -- including Roberta's and Elmhurst slice joint Besta -- have been implicated in the theory since, with YouTubers and other posting videos and photos they say link the restaurants to pedophilia or Satan worship.
In the case of Besta, users flooded the restaurant's Yelp page, forcing the restaurant review site to post a disclaimer about recent postings about the restaurant.
