Following the announcement of John McAfee’s death in Spanish prison on Wednesday, his now-deleted Instagram account uploaded an image of a black letter “Q,” a rallying call for the conspiracy theory QAnon.
The image, which was posted less than an hour after the Spanish Justice Department confirmed McAfee’s death, caused many curious observers and conspiracy theory enthusiasts to question if the cryptic post held any significance or whether it was a benign ode to the late software entrepreneur’s eccentric personality.
Hours after the image was uploaded, the Instagram account for McAfee was no longer visible and was presumably deleted or hidden. The Q image was likely posted by someone representing McAfee’s social media profile while he was in prison.
McAfee’s attorney, Javier Villalba, told media outlets his death was a suicide by hanging. His death came shortly after he received notice he would be extradited to the United States, where he faced charges of tax evasion between 2014 and 2018.
The late antivirus software company magnate faced a possible sentence of more than two decades in prison if he had been convicted of his charges in the U.S. McAfee was arrested in Barcelona in October and said during a May court hearing that he believed the Spanish court would see the “injustice” of his detainment. He also expressed the belief the U.S. wanted to use him as an “example.”
JOHN MCAFEE DIED BY SUICIDE IN SPANISH PRISON CELL, ATTORNEY SAYS
After John McAfee’s death, his Instagram account posts a picture of a “Q.”
QAnon believers, as you’d expect, are thrilled. pic.twitter.com/M79J09D8gr
— Will Sommer (@willsommer) June 23, 2021
Wednesday’s Q post was just one component of different theories online users began spouting following the death of McAfee, as many made reference to an Oct. 15 tweet he wrote in which he pledged “that if I hang myself, a la [Jeffrey] Epstein, it will be no fault of mine.”
McAfee’s reference to the late and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was arrested in July 2019 on federal charges of sexual abuse and trafficking, prompted some online influencers to speculate whether the software mogul’s death involved any foul play from outside parties, despite his lawyer’s claim.
“So…if Jeffrey Epstein got Vincent Fostered then…did McAfee just get Jeffrey Epsteined,” Newsmax host Steve Cortes tweeted out to more than 200,000 followers.
The QAnon conspiracy theory, which emerged in a mainstream light following former President Donald Trump’s term in the White House, speculated that Trump was waging a secret war against a global cabal of cannibalistic, Satan-worshipping pedophiles. The theory found believers among some of the former president’s fan base throughout the 2020 election and still remains a prevalent belief today.
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The Washington Examiner contacted Instagram and Villalba but did not immediately receive a response.
