
John McAfee arrested in Guatemala - ssclafani
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/06/us-belize-mcafee-arrest-idUSBRE8B504H20121206
======
ds
What a sad situation. Its obvious that McAfee is in a state of mania. Its been
widely documented that he has extensive abuse issues with bath salt type of
drugs which are about as paranoia-inducing as possible.

Regardless of his guilt in killing his neighbor, he truly needs professional
help. Going long periods as he is can have serious long-term effects.

Also, this is not someone to idolize. He fled from the US to avoid a wrongful
death lawsuit.

~~~
bitsoda
For anyone unfamiliar with bath salts, here is a fairly comprehensive article
describing the drug: <http://www.pbs.org/newshour/multimedia/bath-salts/>

Also, here's a quick summary of what the drug does in GIF format:
<http://i.imgur.com/P4csH.gif>

~~~
blhack
"Bath Salts" is not a "thing". "Bath salts" is how "research chemicals" (read:
drugs) are imported to the United States and sold under the radar of the FDA
and DEA.

These things are sold as: lady bug attractant, plant food, or bath salts.

None of these are actually the intended use, unless you think that head shops
are now having crossover with bath and body works.

Here is an excellent [but very depressing] story about how some "lady bug
attractant" devastated a town:

[http://www.vice.com/read/bath-salts-in-the-
wound-0000320-v19...](http://www.vice.com/read/bath-salts-in-the-
wound-0000320-v19n7)

~~~
DanBlake
I wonder what happens if you actually ended up using bath salts as.... bath
salts.

Would you experience effects from absorbing them? If so, that would be a
pretty lock-solid lawsuit.

~~~
jlgreco
Unfortunately I suspect suing one of these companies would not be worth the
trouble. I can't imagine they keep any amount of assets anywhere that they
could be seized.

------
andrewfelix
Serious question: Why do so many people empathise with McAfee's plight?

From where I stand he looks like wealthy man who lost direction, turned to
drugs and likely killed a man.

~~~
_delirium
Techies read a lot of genre fiction with anti-heroes on the run, and that kind
of thing. Maybe even some political sympathy, McAfee as an example of "going
Galt".

~~~
alokhar
Who is Galt?

~~~
gregholmberg
"John Galt is a fictional character in Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged
(1957)."

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Galt>

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayn_Rand>

~~~
alokhar
What I meant was: Who is John Galt?

~~~
kaonashi
A fictional character.

~~~
thejsjunky
Ah, the lesser seen cousin of Poe's Law: any sufficiently confused exchange on
the Internet is indistinguishable from an Abbot and Costello routine.

~~~
pjscott
If only it were so! Profound confusion would be much easier to spot in a world
that worked like that.

------
edj
Although it's more interesting to imagine he was found due to the outing of a
VICE photographer's EXIF data[1], it's probably more likely he gave himself up
at the advice of his attorney in Guatemala[2].

[1]: [http://www.mobileprivacy.org/2012/12/vice-com-publishes-
excl...](http://www.mobileprivacy.org/2012/12/vice-com-publishes-exclusive-
with-john-mcafee-reveals-location-in-iphone-metadata-exif/)

[2]: [http://www.vice.com/read/john-mcafee-is-in-guatemala-city-
an...](http://www.vice.com/read/john-mcafee-is-in-guatemala-city-and-he-just-
hired-the-best-lawyer-in-the-country)

------
gkoberger
This means the VICE metadata of the image the published was correct, and his
"I edited the EXIF data" story was a lie: he was in Guatemala (specifically,
along the Rio Dulce in Parque Nacional Rio Dulce).

Also, just yesterday he posted saying that he would be meeting with Guatemalan
officials this morning: <http://www.whoismcafee.com/guatemala/>

~~~
citricsquid
He admitted it in that post you linked to:

    
    
        Yesterday was chaotic due to the accidental release of 
        my exact co-ordinates by an unseasoned technician at 
        Vice headquarters.

~~~
nickporter
That's a shame.. Vice produces some interesting content. Hopefully this won't
cause too much damage to their reputation.

~~~
nikatwork
I don't think they'd care either way. Vice is gonzo journalism (and I love
them for it).

------
Uchikoma
Reading about McAfee on wikipedia, I found this one interesting relating to
the paranoia point of the story:

"In a 2012 article in Mensa Bulletin, the magazine of American Mensa, he
stated that being the developer of the first commercial anti-virus program has
made him "the most popular hacking target", adding "Hackers see hacking me as
a badge of honor". He added that for his own security he has other people buy
his computer equipment for him, uses pseudonyms for setting up computers and
logging in, and changes his IP address several times a day."

~~~
Samuel_Michon
Sounds like RMS...

~~~
awj
In what way? I'm no huge fan of RMS, but McAffe is in a whole different league
of "weird relationship with computers and the internet".

~~~
Samuel_Michon
Just a few examples:

 _“I sometimes use Google's search engine, and I sometimes use DuckDuckGo.
When I use a search engine, it is always from a machine that isn't mine and
that other people also use. I never identify myself to the site, of course.”_
<http://stallman.org/stallman-computing.html>

_“I am unwilling to identify myself in order to connect to the Internet. For
instance, if a hotel gives a user name and password to each room, I won't use
that system, since it would identify me. I would need some other way to
connect.”_
[https://secure.mysociety.org/admin/lists/pipermail/developer...](https://secure.mysociety.org/admin/lists/pipermail/developers-
public/2011-October/007647.html)

 _“I refuse to have supermarket frequent buyer cards of my own because they
are a form of surveillance.

I refuse to have a cell phone because they are tracking and surveillance
devices. They all enable the phone system to record where the user goes, and
many (perhaps all) can be remotely converted into listening devices.

When I need to call someone, I ask someone nearby to let me make a call.

I absolutely refuse to take Amtrak trains because they check passengers ID
(sometimes, not all the time)”_ <http://stallman.org/rms-lifestyle.html>

~~~
Uchikoma
Love that one

"When I need to call someone, I ask someone nearby to let me make a call."

------
skadamat
"They say the trial will last 30 days"

~~~
gprasanth

        McAffee, trial, 30 days
    

Haha I see what you did there :)

------
DigitalSea
Looks like it's time to open up another packet of popcorn kernels, this movie
is starting to get even more interesting. In all seriousness though, I may
have said else-wise earlier but provided John is given a chance to defend
himself and isn't killed or framed for the murder before the trial, if he's
telling the truth hopefully it all works out in the end.

~~~
illuminate
"isn't killed or framed for the murder before the trial"

He could certainly be guilty and the sole source of all this drama, you know.
He's been a very unreliable narrator since the beginning.

~~~
mikeash
This seems compatible with his being guilty. If he is guilty (and I make no
statement either way, really have no idea) then I'd still hope he's found
guilty legitimately, rather than being framed or assassinated.

~~~
illuminate
Again you push the idea that he's fully sincere and mentally grounded in any
fears of "framing" and "assassination". He is not a well man from his
writings/behaviors and will hopefully find the care he needs in prison or
elsewhere if not found guilty.

~~~
mikeash
I really don't think it's related to his mental state. The possibility that
he's being unjustly chased by local police is not at all mutually exclusive
with the (seemingly pretty likely) possibility that he's mentally unwell.

~~~
illuminate
Are charges of murder and running a drug lab necessarily "unjust"?

You've decided his innocence already, the rest of us require something more
than his word.

~~~
mikeash
> You've decided his innocence already, the rest of us require something more
> than his word.

What the fuck, man. I haven't decided anything. I don't know enough about the
case to even speculate. Go take your preconceived notions elsewhere, and stop
criticizing me for things I haven't even said.

------
sneak
EXIF metadata: ruining people's lives since 1995

------
brandoncor
John was interviewed on the Joe Rogan podcast on Nov. 27 when he was still on
the run: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GmwSgCfn38>. It's worth a listen if
you want to hear his side of the story (though it's quite cringeworthy).

It starts at about 18:40.

~~~
Aco-
This is an interesting interview, McAfee doesn't sound insane at all, in fact
this entire interview sounds exactly the opposite, he is rather put together
and well spoken.

------
1qaz2wsx3edc
Great job Vice Magazine! Good Journalism.

(Leak aside, this is probably for the best though.)

------
smoyer
Why does following the McAfee story feel like watching a soap opera?

~~~
sliverstorm
Because this is the kind of things soap operas are made from?

------
danso
Nice job VICE magazine

~~~
djt
I think he went to Guatemala for asylum on purpose

~~~
laureny
> I think he went to Guatemala for asylum on purpose

Doubtful, or he would have contacted the Guatemalan authorities immediately.

What more likely happened: he illegally entered Guatemala, either to hide or
to go further into hiding to another country, got busted because he stupidly
published a picture with EXIF data in it, got arrested and then claimed he was
looking for asylum.

------
olalonde
According to his blog, he might not get deported:

> My lawyer just brought a judge to the jail and the judge issued a stay order
> until a higher judge can review the case. This effectively stops Immigration
> from returning me to the Belize border. So….. the urgency is eased a bit.

------
Uchikoma
Not sure how his side of story goes, all news seems to be incoherent: He
didn't pay 2M$ to that party, so they made the police kill his neighbor in
order to take him for questioning and then kill him?

------
frozenport
I am impressed that he hasn't died earlier from the drugs - the guy is 67 and
looks 50. He must drunk _a lot_ of tea. If they find him guilty, his life is
over.

------
RoyceFullerton
Vice footage of the detainment: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWqiVhRa0xI>

------
nnq
...just out of curiosity, what's the worst thing that could happen to this guy
if he just comes back to the US?

------
iKlsR
I wonder if he will get a 30 day trial..

------
philwelch
He should have made a beeline for the Ecuadorian embassy and pulled an Assange
maneuver.

------
marcamillion
Well the good thing is that now McAfee has the entire world watching what
happens to him - so it's more likely that he won't be killed.

We will see though.

------
Tipzntrix
I would be pretty angry at Vice Magazine if I was McAfee right now.

------
wilfra
It's unfortunate he's batshit crazy right now or he could probably get the US
Embassy involved and fight his extradition and asked that he be deported back
to the US, instead of Belize.

~~~
DanBC
He's evading a US lawsuit. He doesn't want to go back to the US.

~~~
learc83
I think I'd rather be back in the US facing a civil action, than on trial for
murder in Belize.

~~~
DanBC
Wouldn't that be worst of both worlds? Going through civil action and then
being extradited to Belize to face criminal trial?

~~~
wilfra
Except in very rare circumstances, the United States does not extradite its
citizens to face criminal charges in other countries.

@learc83: exactly. if he wasn't having a psychotic episode, he'd realize that.
unfortunately his mind is probably telling him that somehow going to Belize >
going to the US.

~~~
DanBC
> Except in very rare circumstances, the United States does not extradite its
> citizens to face criminal charges in other countries.

Wait, what, really? They've been pitching a fit about Gary McKinnon,
Christopher Tappin, Assange, etc.

I guess I should pay more attention to the laws of other nations.

~~~
illuminate
"They've been pitching a fit about"

The difference is that America answers to no one.

