What really happened to Michael Hastings?

I am sure that it was homicide/assassination/rub-out. No way is he going to run off the road.

It’s been suspicious ever since it happened, just makes no sense. And the NY Times tried to end speculation with a lame dismissive obit, so lame that the widow and tht Times Public Editor lambasted the editorial staff.

So, suspicious death of a disturber of the comfortable.

I don’t think we’ll ever know the answer to this question. It’s certain that some people are going to benefit from his silence, but I don’t find it at all unlikely that he might have been anxious about getting to somewhere off the grid, been texting a number of people rapidly while driving, and been distracted enough to crash. That being said… I can see going off the road, but would it necessarily result in a “fiery single-car crash”? That sounds unusual enough to warrant a detailed post-mortem on his car.

Hopefully it will be looked into, not necessarily because of who he is, but because the nature of the accident would suggest that someone should try to determine the cause (texting while driving, speeding, etc.).

I would think that his family would have access to his computer and research, and if they find something that would suggest that someone was trying to silence him, they’ll reveal the nature and contents of what he was working on.

Wow.

When I saw the story initially it sent shivers down my spine. I believe there is more to the story then meets the eye.

I only know what I read on the Web and see on TV—sources which I find increasingly suspicious—so I don’t have sufficient facts (remember those?) to judge. One thing is certain: even if there was no conspiracy, some people will never let go of the belief there was.

@elbanditoroso, @zenvelo, @glacial, @GoldieAV16, @Judi, @SuperMouse, & @Pachyderm_In_The_Room Thanks to all, and great answers. Surely there will be videos from many cameras telling is he was alone on the road at 4:30 AM or being pursued. Some of those cameras could probably be compromised by someone with enough security clearance. But not all. One of the comforting things about modern technology is that while Bid Brother watches you, you can watch Big Brother—something recent events show very clearly that Big Brother hasn’t gotten comfortable with as of yet.

One underbelly aspect of this story is that contemporary vehicles are totally hackable and vulnerable to remote control. Here’s an example of the lit on this subject: http://www.autosec.org/pubs/cars-oakland2010.pdf

Over a range of experiments, both in the lab and in road tests, we demonstrate the ability to adversarially control a wide range of automotive functions and completely ignore driver input — including disabling the brakes, selectively braking individual wheels on demand, stopping the engine, and so on… We also present composite attacks that leverage individual weaknesses, including an attack that embeds malicious code in a car’s telematics unit and that will completely erase any evidence of its presence after a crash.

@serenade The people he was playing with knew that. One more reminder why I am so attached to the muscle cars of the 60s and 70s. They can outrun damn near anything else on the road and there’s no way anyone outside the driver’s seat takes remote control.