OK..It's Official: "Michael Hastings Had Relapsed Before Fatal Accident"

[KoKo]

Michael Hastings Had Relapsed Before Fatal Accident

Connor Simpson 1,517 Views 4:38 PM ET

The death of investigative journalist Michael Hastings — which had been subject to irresponsible speculation and even conspiracy theories — was officially ruled an accident by the Los Angeles coroner's office on Tuesday. Hastings died of "traumatic injuries," though he had reportedly fallen back into drug use in the month before his death, with meth and marijuana found in his system.

The 33-year-old Hastings died during a single car accident in Los Angeles on the morning of June 18. Hastings was driving a Mercedes when it he lost control of the vehicle, causing it to collide with a tree planted in a median. The car subsequently caught fire; firefighters spent half andhour extracting Hastings's charred body from the fiery wreck, according to the rather gruesome coroner's report.

The report should put to rest notions that Hastings's death was some sort of government conspiracy. That rumor lingered because Hastings — who penned a profile of Stanley McChrystal for Rolling Stone that was responsible for the general's dismissal — was believed to have been the subject of federal law enforcement interest, a rumor that seems to have been stoked by the Julian Assange-led group WikiLeaks:

Michael Hastings contacted WikiLeaks lawyer Jennifer Robinson just a few hours before he died, saying that the FBI was investigating him.
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) June 19, 2013p.[

Turns out that it was an accident, after all — and a highly tragic one at that. The coroner's report does say that Hastings's family members revealed that the BuzzFeed journalist, who had been sober for some 14 years, had recently started using drugs again. Family was supposedly traveling to Los Angeles to convince him to enter rehab.

However, according to the Los Angeles Times, drugs were not responsible for the crash itself:

Coroner's officials said Hastings had traces of amphetamine in his system, consistent with possible intake of methamphetamine many hours before death, as well as marijuana. Neither were considered a factor in the crash, according to toxicology reports.

More at:

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/08/michael-hastings-relapsed-drugs-did-not-cause-fatal-accident/68547/

[hrmjustin]

1. So sorry he died but it was just an accident.

[one_voice]

2. Tragic!...

I'm sorry for his family.

[leveymg]

3. So if it was many hours earlier, how are drugs relevant? How does a coroner's report address

possible hijacking of the car's electronic control system? How is this definitive of anything other than he was in a vehicle fire following a high-speed crash? Duh?

[geek tragedy]

4. A lot of drug addicts function worse

when they're off drugs than when they're on them. Hastings could have fallen asleep because his body/brain had trouble staying alert without meth in his system.

[burnodo]

10. pure speculation on your part

You have no idea what he used and when

[geek tragedy]

12. He was using DMT and pot.

It had been several hours since had used either.

[burnodo]

17. several hours?

What... 4:30 pm? Were you watching? You have no idea what he was using and when he was using it.

[geek tragedy]

21. I read the toxicology report, so I do know.

Perhaps you should inform yourself before embarrassing yourself like this.

[burnodo]

23. He tested positive for meth and pot

You don't what he used and when he used it. You embarrass yourself with every post.

[geek tragedy]

28. Are you capable of saying something intelligent?

I'm stating the conclusions of the toxicology report. You are talking out of your ass. That does not give you the advantage.

[burnodo]

43. Should I alert on this post?

Oh no. I'm not so ridiculous.

The toxicology report reported what was in his system. When where how what is NOT specified. This is all I've been saying and you just can't seem to grasp that.

[geek tragedy]

47. I have my answer.

"a small amount of amphetamine in the blood, consistent with possible intake of methamphetamine many hours before death, unlikely to have an intoxicative effect at the time of accident. Marijuana was present in the blood ... indicating intake hours earlier."

You were saying?

[davidpdx]

97. Apparently he didn't have a come back for that one

[mikeysnot]

102. Pot and meth can be found in the system for months

doesn't prove shit.

Meth can be visible up to 3 months and pot in body tissue for up to several months...

His body was a charred mess, not sure what they tested....

[geek tragedy]

48. Yes, correct statement is that DMT was found. nt

[geek tragedy]

53. Alex Jones agrees with you. nt

[burnodo]

69. WHAT?!?

I thought you read the toxicology report!

[zappaman]

13. You know what's even more "pure speculation"?

That some nefarious group remote controlled his car into a tree at high speed and then blew it up.

[burnodo]

19. even more speculation

like geek tragedy's speculation, you mean

[geek tragedy]

22. Read the toxicology report, genius. nt

[burnodo]

25. are you a doctor?

what the hell do you know?

[geek tragedy]

32. I read the tox report. nt

[sabrina 1]

40. People on drugs get home every hour of every day without their cars exploding

so the fact that he was doing drugs, wasn't doing drugs, tells us nothing much.

I know someone who is a meth addict and she drives to work every day, never misses a day, she is very good at her job and few of her co-workers even know she is an addict. She worked the night shift for over a year recently, driving home sometimes at four in the morning. She has never even had a ticket.

I have no clue why he died but I would not dismiss anything simply because he had relapsed.

It wasn't Wikileaks btw, as the article implies, who told about his fear of the FBI who HAD been harassing his friends. It was his friends and co-workers who mentioned it and then it was reported by many other news outlets.

Regardless, it is a terrible tragedy and a huge loss as there are so few real journalists in this country with the kind of guts he had to tell the truth no matter where it led.

To be honest it would be better if it had been an accident and there was no doubt. Because even the thought that it was not is likely to scare Journalists even more than they are already and who knows, the rumors of foul play may have been spread to achieve that result by the Pro-Surveillance, anti-Journalist entities.

His family must be devastated.

[geek tragedy]

42. Only the infowars crowd is rejecting the conclusion

that this was an accident.

I guess the fact you know one high-functioning meth head proves that meth isn't so bad after all.

[sabrina 1]

55. I have worked with drug addicts and she is by no means an exception.

If she was, we would be hearing of exploding cars every day considering how many meth addicts there are in this country. Funny how few of them end up dead in exploding cars.

Try addressing what people actually say rather than making stuff up. It's a most ineffective tactic and ruins a person's credibility.

Much more effective is being straightforward and addressing the issues under discussion.

As i said, i have no idea what caused Hastings' death. But it is a sign of how damaging the spying and the lies and the deceptions of the US Government have been that few people trust them anymore. That so many would not be surprised at anything they might do. Ten years ago I would not have believed this would be where we would end up. With so little trust in our media or in our government

But that is what happens when a government lies to the people even about something as important as war and no one is held accountable for those lies.

[geek tragedy]

56. We know exactly what killed him. nt

[sabrina 1]

57. We know his car exploded and he died, tragically.

[geek tragedy]

61. We know his car hit a tree at a high rate of speed causing him

to die of trauma from the collision.

[sabrina 1]

64. We knew that almost immediately after it happened. It's pretty obvious

that if your car hits a tree at such a high rate of speed you will most likely die.

[geek tragedy]

66. So, we do know what killed him.

We don't know specifically why his car crashed. But there's zero evidence of foul play, with the driver being a drug abuser who was "passed out" around 12:45 am but was driving at 4:20 am.

[sabrina 1]

68. We always knew what killed him.

[pnwmom]

89. His wife accepts the death as a tragic accident and so do his brothers.

Aren't they more in a position to know? One of them said that he had had symptoms of bipolar disorder (that turned out to be drug related) and that he had times of feeling "invincible" -- that he thought he could jump off a building and not get hurt. The brother also said that he had seen him several hours earlier "passed out." So maybe he fell asleep at the wheel, or maybe he was feeling invincible. Or maybe he was depressed because his family had gathered together to stage an intervention, and he got suicidal.

It's time for us to stop driving ourselves crazy with all the paranoid fantasies.

[sabrina 1]

92. The only reason people have 'paranoid fantasies' as you call them is because we have

a government which has lied to them, which has shown itself capable of killing over one million people and costing over six thousand of our own troops, based on lies. A government which has tortured and abused human beings, has allowed Wall St criminals who have ruined the lives of millions, to not only go without consequences, but has rewarded them by bailing them out with our tax dollars.

Frankly I accept that Hasting's death was a tragic accident.

But we know from his friends and co-workers that he was being harassed by the FBI. Another journalist harassed by our 'security agencies'.

So even if he had not died, there is still the question of why our 'security' agencies are harassing and intimidating journalists.

Perhaps the pressure and fear of that caused him to relapse.

We should NOT be living in a country where journalists are living in fear. And they are.

He was a great journalist, following the news where it led him and assuming it was his job to publish the truth.

So why was he being harassed by the FBI? Is Journalism now a crime in this country?

His wife would be wise to keep whatever she knows about his work to herself, considering the climate we are living in today. The last thing she needs is to be visited by the FBI herself.

RIP to a great journalist. We have so few of them anymore. Or maybe we do, but they are too frightened to do their jobs. And who could blame them.

[Agony]

96. "We should NOT be living in a country where journalists are living in fear. And they are."

Yeah, that...

Thanks for being here

[zappaman]

26. Actually it is a fact that habitual hard drug users don't do well when not high.

I've lost one friend to meth and one family member to crack.
It sucks the life out of you.

Why do you think that is speculation?

[burnodo]

29. I see

so you know specifically what he used, when, how much, and how it affected his accident? Yeah, that's called speculation.

[zappaman]

31. I only know what the toxicology report said

and what his friends and family have said...who were planning an intervention.
But you go on ahead and solve this "murder mystery", Inspector Clouseau.

[burnodo]

34. umm...you're the one speculating

all I posited was that you don't know what specifically affected him when the car crashed

[zappaman]

39. What's my speculation?

Are you gonna use facts to tell me what happened?
What is Alex saying these days?... I'm dying to know.

[burnodo]

70. Alex who?

I don't know what you're talking about.

You're speculating about what led to his death by asserting that the toxicology report explains the events of the night of the accident.

[pnwmom]

105. You are speculating that the cause was something else, based on nothing

but your own suspicions.

The family and friends are in a much stronger position for their beliefs than you are.

[pnwmom]

104. His drug use had previously been connected with symptoms of mental illness,

symptoms that mimicked bi-polar disorder, and feelings of invincibility. Unfortunately, in susceptible people drug use can precipitate symptoms that persist beyond the period that the drugs are at significant levels in the system.

Also, he could have been depressed and suicidal, given the circumstances. His family were all gathering there for an intervention.

[zappaman]

5. But...but...but...

Cars just don't explode!
He didn't do drugs cuz some people said he didn't!

Time to put this conspiracy theory to bed, but you know it won't die.

RIP Michael.
Accidents happen.

[dionysus]

30. and even in this thread people double down on infowars style woo...

can't even let the poor guy rest in peace.

[zappaman]

33. No kidding.

It's sad how delusional people can be.

Let's see what Skinner had to say...

"I think at this point the Michael Hastings stuff is conspiracy speculation and does not belong in the main forums."

and

"In this case, I thought the most helpful thing going forward would be for me to simply state plainly that the Michael Hastings stuff should be treated as conspiracy speculation."

No fucking kidding.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12592796

[dionysus]

35. if only we had a crack investigative journalist, bullwhip and bayonet at the ready,

to solve this mystery once and for all.

[zappaman]

37. Hmmmmm....

Suffice it to say, it would have to be one who has "been in enough shootouts to give nightmares" though.

[SidDithers]

93. The black helicopter left, out in full force...nt

Sid

[Raine]

6. 14 years of being clean since being a teen-ager

guess drugs never loosen their grip.

[UtahLib]

7. Very sad for his family. n/t

[pscot]

8. This story sounds like spin

I have not been following this and don't know the details, but this particular item sounds to me like spin.

[Fire Walk With Me]

9. LAPD, LA city hall and nearly the entire power structure in LA

are exceedingly untrustworthy.

[KoKo]

11. I hope more questions will be asked about this...

It does seem very "short and final" given the questions which have been raised...and what we know about LAPD which has been written about in years past..extensively.

We will have to wait and see if others take this up. It just broke on "Atlantic Wire." so I posted what they had.

I, too, have questions about the "dangling threads." But, we can't always think there's more to a story or we are called "CT'ers." Yet, questioning is the sign of Inquiring Minds...and some believe that "Inquiring Minds" trump..."Believe what you are Told" and forget about the rest.

So...We shall see...

[geek tragedy]

14. Story is over. Family says it was an accident.

Only the infowars crowd thinks this is an open question.

[zappaman]

15. "short and final"?

It's been weeks since the accident and they just released the toxicology report.
How is that "short"?

[JI7]

16. Why would LA power structure want to cover this up ?

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

18. It's always tough when personal lives get in the way of "the greater good"

This, of course, will not end it for some.

[WinkyDink]

20. Drugs = one of the easiest ways to murder.

[geek tragedy]

24. Infowars called, it wants its crazy hat back.

The family said he was abusing drugs so much they planned an intervention.

[WinkyDink]

111. How accommodating of them. But your implication must be correct: people have never been slain by

govts.

This message brought to you by the CIA's poisoned cigars intended for Castro. Wait; did they come with a tin-foil hat?

[zappaman]

27. Drugs = one of the easiest ways to die or kill yourself.

Especially crack or meth.

[dionysus]

36. silly rabbit. obama's stasi LAPD agents forced him to smoke meth at gunpoint after they

hypnotized him to drive fast.

sheesh, get with the program man.

[zappaman]

38. IMPEACH!

First he listened to my call to Grandma and now he is killing journalists!

[geek tragedy]

41. That's just crazy talk.

The NSA hacked his car and operated it by remote control. I read it on the Internet.

[Cali_Democrat]

94. They forced him to smoke meth....

then they planted explosives, cut his brake lines, and remotely hijacked his car...

...all theories I read on DU.

[cherokeeprogressive]

45. I don't know... I'm thinking his body should be exhumed and reexamined for toxicological evidence.

[geek tragedy]

49. I'm thinking they don't exhume bodies

against the wishes of families for completely redundant tests because some loons on the Internet are wedded to their conspiracy theories.

You were wrong. It happens.

[cherokeeprogressive]

52. Really? What was I wrong about, pray tell? Quick, start searching and find a post I made about

this. I'll wait.

[geek tragedy]

54. The derp is strong with this one:

http://election.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=3043491

And here you are literally wanting to drag his body out of the grave with no justification. Ghoulish, weird, creepy.

[cherokeeprogressive]

60. What claim did I make?

[geek tragedy]

63. Right, 'just asking questions' followed

by a bizarre call to desecrate his remains.

[cherokeeprogressive]

65. YOU SAID I WAS WRONG. WRONG ABOUT WHAT?

[geek tragedy]

67. Wrong about whatever motivated you to call for his

gravesite and remains to be desecrated.

[geek tragedy]

74. Ah, I took you seriously. Well played. nt

[MrMickeysMom]

46. So WTF is this REALLY saying?

None of the initial headline turns out to be true.

Anyone from his family gonna back this up?

WHAT THE FUCK....

[geek tragedy]

51. The family says it was an accident.

They were interviewed for the report.

Sorry, you were wrong to trust Alex Jones on this one.

[MrMickeysMom]

58. you're accusing me of trusting Alex Jones for what reason? Just to insult me?

You only make yourself look like a bully with nothing to talk about.

I'll bet you have no real evidence of the interview you talk about while throwing ad hominems around.

[geek tragedy]

59. Read it yourself:

http://documents.latimes.com/coroner-report-michael-hastings/

[MrMickeysMom]

72. Just read it...

Pretty hard to determine any physical evidence. If anything is to be believed from it, it wasn't anything measurable, but based on what the PERSON described to the officer first responder.

So, if he had a medical marijuana card, and had suffered from PTSD, and therefore had had prior use of a medicine which he reacted to years before, adding to this the hearsay about what was believed to be in his system, none of it could be determined to relate the this accident, nor could any of it explain the condition of what was found behind the car (intact engine) at the scene.

I just love how people pile on... tells me a lot about the human race, and specifically those who feel they have to push this kind of stuff neatly into a package that supports "NOTHING TO SEE HERE... MOVE ALONG"...

Pretty pitiful stuff you're toting here. Have fun playing with yourselves.

[geek tragedy]

75. He died because his car was going really fast

when it collided with the tree.

Let me guess, you read that the engine was found behind the car on the Internet.

[MrMickeysMom]

76. Wrong "guess"...

Howerver, true, his car was going very fast and hit a tree. Very good observation.

I posted a video of raw footage here on DU. It was on scene and observable.

Edit: video link, timeframe 5:32 - http://degrijzeduif.blogspot.nl/2013/08/michael-hastings-videos-frame-by-frame.html

[geek tragedy]

77. Engine was thrown in front of car

You need to find better sources of information.

Dvorak's other theories are just as questionable. She claimed on air that the engine of Hastings' Mercedes C250 coupe had been found behind the crash site, which would have been impossible with the forward velocity of an ordinary accident. The engine was found in front of the crash site

http://m.motherjones.com/politics/2013/08/michael-hastings-conspiracy-theories-kim-dvorak

[MrMickeysMom]

78. go back and look at the frame I pointed out to you on the raw video...

... and find out where that engine was, which was not "thrown in front of car"

[MrMickeysMom]

82. Enough...

Your last response really told me who you are...

[geek tragedy]

83. Yes, a non-crazy person. nt

[MrMickeysMom]

85. It doesn't matter what you think you are...

I know exactly what I'm dealing with here.

[pnwmom]

91. His wife and his brothers are in a much better position than any of us to speculate on this

and they believe the death was a tragic accident.

One of the brothers says that he had had symptoms that were mistaken for bipolar disorder. And that he had expressed feelings of invincibility -- that he could jump off a building and not get hurt. His family had just arrived for a drug intervention, and he could very well have been upset about that.

So the overwhelming probability is that the cause of his death was the result of his own actions -- not the government's. He could have fallen asleep at the wheel, or been feeling invincible, or maybe suicidal. As his wife says, his death wasn't part of a plot -- it was just a tragic accident.

[MrMickeysMom]

95. Nothing to se here... move along...

He says, she says, and what says? Answer is evident that we don't know...

Then, there's the raw footage of the vehicle's engine which no one seems to want to comment on...

Good luck...

[hack89]

99. What is unusual about the engine's position? nt

[MrMickeysMom]

108. Read response #77, then look at the video I provided...

That would be the same video people don't want to see or comment on, using the lame excuse that they'd have to put a "tin foil hat" on, when all they'd have to do is to watch the actual raw video of this accident.

[hack89]

110. The engine was thrown in front of the car

just as you would expect.

http://rearnakedsmoke.info/2013/07/09/debunked-michael-hastings-crash-engine-found-north-of-crash-going-south-metabunk-7813/

[pnwmom]

103. Sorry, I'm not ready for a tinfoil hat. n/t

[MrMickeysMom]

106. You're not ready for any kind of hat...

... until you use your head.

[NoMoreWarNow]

100. obsessed with Alex Jones much?

Jeesh, you love that meme, don't you?

[MrMickeysMom]

107. I suppose it works for those who need a "go to" position...

It's much easier than thinking about actual evidence.

[KamaAina]

62. "Neither were considered a factor in the crash, according to toxicology reports."

So what was?

[MrMickeysMom]

73. The answer is...

... Not too fucking much...

[geek tragedy]

86. It was 4:20 am. He had been seen 'passed out' less than

3 hours earlier. So, probably some combination of driver error or even falling asleep.

[KamaAina]

87. Passed out less than three hours earlier?

Yet only minor traces of drugs in his system?

[ohnoyoudidnt]

79. So while he was investigating the head of the CIA and told a close frriend he had to go off the grid

He just happened to have a relapse and die within a day. So sad.

[geek tragedy]

81. His relapse happened a month before. nt

[MrMickeysMom]

84. An answer for any response...

The more logical the response, the more bizarre the answer, not to mention rude and insensitive. It won't matter what logical evidence or thought to provoke any deep consideration.

Just this...

[MrMickeysMom]

88. Jury's out on this one...

At Tue Aug 20, 2013, 10:44 PM you sent an alert on the following post:

You are full of shit. The engine was found in front
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=3502475

REASON FOR ALERT:

This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate. (See <a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=aboutus#communitystandards" target="_blank">Community Standards</a>.)

YOUR COMMENTS:

After trying to show evidence, the rudeness turns to me being full of shit. Enough, please!

A randomly-selected Jury of DU members completed their review of this alert at Tue Aug 20, 2013, 10:49 PM, and voted 5-1 to HIDE IT.

Juror #1 voted to HIDE IT and said: No explanation given
Juror #2 voted to HIDE IT and said: No explanation given
Juror #3 voted to HIDE IT and said: the "you are full of shit" message is just too much. really really rude.
Juror #4 voted to HIDE IT and said: The poster keeps escalating insults instead of debate.
Juror #5 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: No explanation given
Juror #6 voted to HIDE IT and said: While I respect strong opinions, let's try to remember to be civil to each other. Tone down the insults, reword it, and repost.

Thank you.

[agentS]

90. Well, so long to this generation's "Spider Jerusalem" then

[Quantess]

98. I have a really hard time believing someone would use meth when they could afford cocaine.

I kind of don't buy this story.

[NoMoreWarNow]

101. it's not even clear he used meth. He took adderall, and the "meth"

could be breakdown products from that. I agree that the story stinks though.

[Rex]

109. It is official, he died from traumatic injuries. AND?

THAT is it? We know HOW he died, just not why. Since the drugs in his body story also comes with a disclaimer that that was not the reason.