Wednesday, August 21, 2013

FRIEND: Day of His Death, Hastings Thought His Car Was Being Tampered With

Mad or made mad, Michael Hastings was clearly spooked. LA Weekly reports:
Hastings was intensely interested in government surveillance of journalists. In May, the story broke about the Department of Justice obtaining the phone records of Associated Press reporters. A couple weeks later, Edward Snowden's revelations about the National Security Agency's massive surveillance program became public. Hastings was convinced he was a target. 
His behavior grew increasingly erratic. Helicopters often circle over the hills, but Hastings believed there were more of them around whenever he was at home, keeping an eye on him. He came to believe his Mercedes was being tampered with. "Nothing I could say could console him," [his neighbor] Thigpen says.
One night in June, he came to Thigpen's apartment after midnight and urgently asked to borrow her Volvo. He said he was afraid to drive his own car. She declined, telling him her car was having mechanical problems.

"He was scared, and he wanted to leave town," she says.

The next day, around 11:15 a.m., she got a call from her landlord, who told her Hastings had died early that morning. His car had crashed into a palm tree at 75 mph and exploded in a ball of fire.

18 comments:

  1. Keep in mind that the autopsy revealed methamphetamine in his blood (taken from his chest) at .05 ug/ml, liver at .57 ug/g and bile at .19 ug/ml. Methamphetamines cause paranoia.

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    1. Just because you are paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't following you.

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    2. True. Although I think it is reasonable to remain skeptical of these claims given the drugs he was purportedly using.

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  2. the young turks did a gemreat job destroying the claim that he was on drugs including meth on a recent video they did on youtube.

    The tox report didnt reveal methamphetamine.

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    1. He may not have been intoxicated by methamphetamines (or a prescription drug such as Aderall) at the time of the crash, but as I stated in my initial comment, the drug was found in his system, meaning that he had used them. Use of methamphetamines (including prescription meds such as aderall) can cause paranoia.

      Given this, it is reasonable to remain skeptical of his claim that someone was tampering with his vehicle.

      Regardless, thanks for the link and information on the Young Turks video.

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  3. Not to be "paranoid" but do you mean the same autopsy that they cremated? Against the wishes of the family? Dale Fitz

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    1. Actually, he was cremated according to the families wishes.

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    2. Actually, no he wasnt you sheep

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    3. Yes, the Family wanted the body, no cremation was wanted.

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    4. Yes, the family DID want him cremated. Dvorak misspoke. I googled it and found the truth. Dale Fitz

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    5. "Actually, no he wasnt you sheep"

      Here's a helpful rhetorical tip. If you want to sway someone to your side of an issue, don't insult them. Instead, provide factual information that forces them to reconsider their position.

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    6. Exactly. I thought the family had not requested cremation, but they have publicly stated that they DID ask for cremation, and many of them still think foul play was involved. As stated above, Ritalin is a "methamphetamine" and marijauna is virtually harmless. I still think Hastings was murdered, but these things and any disinformation muddies the waters. Dale Fitz

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    7. Not Ritaln, Adderall. Mea culpa. DF

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    8. Apologies, hadn't heard that the family requested it and you didn't source it. Get tired of people firing off in forums with only their opinion stated as fact. Sooo, my bad

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  4. This sounds quite similar to what happened to Ernest Hemingway. People also called him paranoid but he was right.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/8614094/Ernest-Hemingway-driven-to-suicide-over-FBI-surveillance.html

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  5. I watched her interview with Ron Paul and she was very, very careful with how she talked about the event. She never called it an accident and said she wanted to know what really happened but never accused the govt. she also said both she is a libertarian and so was her husband. Very interesting interview from the ronpaulchannel.com.

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  6. Is it not possible for an autopsy of the car to be made in order to derive with the root of the accident? That way, we would find out whether he crashed into the tree because of his own circumstances or was it really a case of misconduct.

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