As Reporters Dig Into Unusual Nature of Scalia's Death, Conspiracy Theorists Develop Bizarre Fantasies

AlterNet
and
Michael Arria
February 15, 2016News & Politics

It's still difficult to get clear details on the death of Antonin Scalia. The Washington Post ran a piece titled "The death of Antonin Scalia: Chaos, confusion and conflicting reports," that summarizes many of the reports:

It then took hours for authorities in remote West Texas to find a justice of the peace, officials said Sunday. When they did, Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara pronounced Scalia dead of natural causes without seeing the body — which is permissible under Texas law — and without ordering an autopsy.

As official Washington tried to process what his demise means for politics and the law, some details of Scalia’s final hours remained opaque. As late as Sunday afternoon, for example, there were conflicting reports about whether an autopsy should have been performed. A manager at the El Paso funeral home where Scalia’s body was taken said that his family made it clear they did not want one.

The murkiness of Scalia's passing has inspired some interesting theories in certain corners of the right. Alex Jones' InfoWars posted this story:

[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"607527","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"543","style":"width: 478px; height: 543px;","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"478"}}]]

And echoing the likes of Jones, many people took to Twitter to develop their own half-baked motives:

And the concerns continued:
Nonethless, not everyone on the right is buying in. Bill Kristol's Weekly Standard is at least skeptical of foul play:
 

Report typos and corrections to: feedback@alternet.org.

Should Trump be allowed to hold office again?

Understand the importance of honest news ?

So do we.

The past year has been the most arduous of our lives. The Covid-19 pandemic continues to be catastrophic not only to our health - mental and physical - but also to the stability of millions of people. For all of us independent news organizations, it’s no exception.

We’ve covered everything thrown at us this past year and will continue to do so with your support. We’ve always understood the importance of calling out corruption, regardless of political affiliation.

We need your support in this difficult time. Every reader contribution, no matter the amount, makes a difference in allowing our newsroom to bring you the stories that matter, at a time when being informed is more important than ever. Invest with us.

Make a one-time contribution to Alternet All Access, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you.

Click to donate by check.

DonateDonate by credit card
Donate by Paypal
{{ post.roar_specific_data.api_data.analytics }}
@2022 - AlterNet Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. - "Poynter" fonts provided by fontsempire.com.