Never heard of this guy, but RIP.WillyT (46,355 posts)
:( :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 'Journalist Michael Hastings Dies In Car Crash' - RawStory
Journalist Michael Hastings dies in car crash
By Eric W. Dolan - RawStory
Tuesday, June 18, 2013 19:03 EDT
<snip>
The journalist and author Michael Hastings died at the age of 33 on Tuesday morning. According to his employer BuzzFeed, Hastings was killed in a car crash in Los Angeles..
“We are shocked and devastated by the news that Michael Hastings is gone,” Ben Smith, BuzzFeed Editor-in-Chief, said in a statement. “Michael was a great, fearless journalist with an incredible instinct for the story, and a gift for finding ways to make his readers care about anything he covered from wars to politicians. He wrote stories that would otherwise have gone unwritten, and without him there are great stories that will go untold. Michael was also a wonderful, generous colleague and a joy to work with. Our thoughts are with Elise and and the rest of his family and we are going to miss him.”
Hastings gained national attention in 2010 after exposing inflammatory comments made by Gen. Stanley McChrystal about President Barack Obama and the civilian leadership of the military.
<snip>
Link: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/1...-in-car-crash/
This thread & others immediately delve into conspiracies.
malaise (107,085 posts)
6. Are we sure it was an accident?b.durruti (26 posts)
29. They murder with impunity. -nt-siligut (11,506 posts)
85. My first thought is that it wasn't an accident
Early Tuesday morning, one 'witness', at least that is what the article indicates. Car suddenly jackknifed, hit a tree and burst into flames. Seriously, other than in movies and TV, I have never seen a vehicle burst into flames.Cooley Hurd (21,007 posts)
20. I hope it's thoroughly investigated.
He's pissed off a lot of powerful people in the past.
Cross gently, Michael.Divernan (9,877 posts)
65. Including whether his car was tampered with.
A biting comment from the Yahoo coverage: Weather in Los Angeles: Cloudy with a chance of Drones.JI7 (40,475 posts)
19. i use to drive that way to work a few years ago , not an area i would drive very fast in
and at least the streets along melrose can be very close together. but i don't know how it would look at 4 am and if it was empty enough that one would drive much faster than usual.
i have to wonder if he was drinking.HubertHeaver (1,049 posts)
40. or being followed..............glinda (12,128 posts)
58. That was my thought. Run off the road.cherokeeprogressive (15,320 posts)
28. Single vehicle crossed a median, impacted a tree, driver burned beyond recognition.
I'm not normally one to entertain conspiracy stuff... in fact I usually mock those who do, but this seems a little strange.
I'd like to know what his habits were. Did he normally drive down that street that early in the morning?glinda (12,128 posts)
60. Slipped a drug at an interview?????
I would want to know where he was. Was he lured with a scoop?NoMoreWarNow (971 posts)
51. yes, there is something very wrong hereKoKo (70,066 posts)
93. "...friends worried..he was agitated"..from KTLA Link from Greg Mitchell's Piece
Friends said that, because of the nature of Hastings’ work, he often led a very paranoid lifestyle.
“A lot of his friends were worried that he was in a very agitated state, yes. No question, people were concerned,” said Cenk Uygur, host of “The Young Turks.”
“He was incredibly tense and very worried and was concerned that the government was looking in on his material,” he said.
“I don’t know what his state of mind was at 4:30 in the morning, but I do know what his state of mind was in general, and it was a nervous wreck.”
In addition to his work for Rolling Stone and BuzzFeed, Hastings was also a contributor for GQ and Newsweek. He leaves behind a wife.
http://ktla.com/2013/06/19/driver-ki...#axzz2Wc62vgTSSleeplessinSoCal (1,712 posts)
30. The photo is terribly disturbing.
Last edited Tue Jun 18, 2013, 08:28 PM USA/ET - Edit history (1)
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...,7611310.story
I don't see how this can be taken as "Just an accident", considering all that is going on right now.radiclib (1,458 posts)
31. This is absolutely hideous news
The world can hardly afford to lose the likes of Michael.
The circumstances of this so-called (sorry, but I gotta go there) "accident" had better be closely and openly scrutinized.SleeplessinSoCal (1,712 posts)
34. I agree. I also feel that there are way too many enemies out there of real journalism.
And the timing is totally suspicious. Not saying it was the "government". But I think it could easily have been a hit job timed to coincide with NSA revelations by those who felt betrayed by his reporting.colsohlibgal (1,002 posts)
70. This Does Seem Fishy, I Hope It Really Is Looked At
There is enough here so far to raise my suspicions, much like what happened to Paul Wellstone some years ago. Just a bit too convenient for some in power that he regularly exposed.
It's just so sad in any event, way too young to die.YeahSureRight (129 posts)
79. How convenient a real journalist who is exposing the lies and making powerful
enemies ends up in a car accident.
Seems like his death is also sending a message to others to not expose the lies or you will end up dead.
We will never know the truth about what happened.OKNancy (30,204 posts)
80. And the conspiracy theories start....
Last edited Wed Jun 19, 2013, 07:11 AM USA/ET - Edit history (1)
but I saw the video. A witness said he was going really fast. He said it in broken English but he said.. maybe 100.
A print article says: A witness described the accident to KTLA News: “I was just coming northbound on Highland and I seen a car, like, going really fast and all of a sudden I seen it jackknife,” Luis Cortez said. “I just seen parts fly everywhere, and I slammed on my brakes and stopped and tried to call 911."
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...,7611310.story
So, wouldn't the most likely thing be that he was going too fast and lost control?
ETA: no witness said anything about another car. A single car going way too fastreformist2 (4,435 posts)
84. Maybe his wife can explain why he was out and about at 4 am on a Tuesday?We're not talking about you and one of your drinking binges, Wee Willie.WilliamPitt (54,580 posts)
91. A reporter out late?
*gasp*
More lunacy at the link.
Originally Posted by Zathras
