It didn't take long for conspiracy theorists to begin speculating about the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
The U.S. Marshals Service said no foul play is suspected in Scalia's death, which occurred at a luxury ranch in West Texas. Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara didn't see the justice's body, but officially pronounced him dead of natural causes on Saturday after speaking with his doctor and law enforcement officials who were on the scene. Texas law permits such inquests to be made by phone.
Still, that hasn't stopped Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist behind the website Infowars, from suggesting that Scalia was murdered.
“You just get used to this ‘Scalia found, it’s natural, nothing going on here, he just died naturally,’” Jones said in a video on Facebook. “And you’re like, ‘Whoa. Red flag.’ Then you realize, Obama is one vote away from being able to ban guns, open the borders and actually have the court engage in its agenda and now Scalia dies. I mean, this is hardcore.”
Jones went on to wonder whether Justice Clarence Thomas, former presidential candidate Ron Paul or GOP front-runner Donald Trump could be next.
John Poindexter, the owner of the ranch where Scalia died, said he found the justice in his bed with a pillow over his head and his clothes unwrinkled. Authorities did not perform an autopsy on Scalia's body, and his family didn't think a private autopsy was necessary.
Former Washington and New York detectives who had nothing to do with the case told The New York Post that an autopsy should have been performed to rule out other possible causes of death.
Trump raised questions about the circumstances surrounding Scalia's death. "I'm hearing it's a big topic -- that's the question. And it's a horrible topic, but they say they found a pillow on his face, which is a pretty unusual place to find a pillow," he told radio host Michael Savage on "The Savage Nation."
"I can't tell you what -- I can't give you an answer. You know, usually I like to give you answers, but I literally just heard it a little while ago," Trump said.
Savage has called for an investigation into Scalia's death.
