John McAfee’s death has set off numerous conspiracy theories, tributes and criticism of the extradition to the US the now-deceased antivirus magnate was facing.
McAfee was found dead in his prison cell in Barcelona only hours after a Spanish court approved his extradition to the US, where he was facing charges of tax evasion and other financial crimes.
A statement from Spain’s Ministry of Justice has indicated the cause of death for McAfee could be suicide, a detail that has set off many who see a conspiracy, citing past McAfee tweets where he warned his followers that if it was ever reported he committed suicide, “a la Epstein,” then it was a professional hit.
One 2019 tweet from McAfee, who was known for freely speaking his mind, however outlandishly, warned the former tech mogul was getting “subtle messages” from US government officials that they were going to have him killed and make it look like a suicide. He even showed off a tattoo, reading “whackd,” which Twitter users began turning into a hashtag, along with #McAfeeDidntKillHimself, shortly after his death was announced.
The other tweet warned McAfee’s followers that he was “content” shortly after his arrest in October 2020 in Spain.
To add to conspiracy theories, users also began noticing a post – the first in months – to McAfee’s Instagram account of a solo ‘Q’, a reference many connected to the QAnon movement, which connects numerous conspiracy theories to the government ‘deep state’ that McAfee had also been critical of later in life.
McAfee’s death also led critics to blast the US court system and his impending extradition to the US.
“Europe should not extradite those accused of non-violent crimes to a court system so unfair – and prison system so cruel – that native-born defendants would rather die than become subject to it,” tweeted Edward Snowden, himself a fugitive from the US after blowing the whistle on the National Security Agency’s mass surveillance.
Snowden warned that jailed journalist and Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who is also facing possible extradition to the US, could be next.
Other McAfee supporters simply mourned the man’s passing and expressed support for his wife, Janice.
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