John McAfee’s campaign manager has said on Twitter that the presidential candidate and his wife might have been arrested or detained on his boat, sparking rumors about a possible “dead man’s switch” that John McAfee recently talked about online. McAfee has been living off a boat and says it’s because he’s wanted for not paying his taxes. Now his campaign manager is saying that McAfee and his wife might have been detained on that boat. This is a developing story.

His Campaign Manager Said He Hasn’t Heard from McAfee or His Wife Since Their Boat Was Boarded & Assured Followers ‘This Is Not a Publicity Stunt’

John McAfee’s campaign manager, Rob Bendicto Pacifico Juan Maria Loggia-Ramirez, posted on McAfee’s Twitter account on July 23 to share that he hadn’t heard from McAfee and thought he was detained. He wrote: “This is @loggiaonfire again. I have good reason to suspect that John McAfee, @theemrsmcafee and other companions have been detained by authorities at their latest port of call. I will be operating this account providing updates as they become possible… I last spoke with John as his boat was being boarded. The situation was tense but controlled. Our conversation was cut short by authorities confiscating their phones. The bastards wouldn’t even give him a cigarette.”

Loggia-Ramirez said he last spoke to McAfee when his boat was being boarded and he hasn’t heard from him since. You can read his tweets below.

Loggia-Ramirez told CNET that he didn’t have any additional information. He said that he and companions were using “every possible resource” to find McAfee and get him released.

Loggia-Ramirez later took to Twitter to thank followers for their help and to assure the public that this is not a “publicity stunt.” He wrote: “Thank you all good people for the outpouring of support and offers of help following today’s announcement. John has many friends in this world, some powerful in their own right. Rest assured all are working to locate and John et al. There are also some people that doubt the veracity of today’s report. That is fair enough and can be forgiven. But you will find you are mistaken – this is not a publicity stunt.”

McAfee Has Spoken About Having a Deadman’s Switch

Prior to going dark, McAfee tweeted about having a deadman’s switch. On June 9 he wrote: “I’ve collected files on corruption in governments. For the first time, I’m naming names and specifics. I’ll begin with a corrupt CIA agent and two Bahamian officials. Coming today. If I’m arrested or disappear, 31+ terrabytes of incriminating data will be released to the press.”

His campaign manager reiterated the claim when he took over McAfee’s account. He wrote: “If John misses his next check-in, events will be set into motion that I cannot prevent once they have begun. John has secreted data with individuals across the world. I know neither their identities or locations. They will release their payloads if John goes missing. Our campaign for individual freedom and an end to state sponsored tyranny will continue despite these developments. On behalf of the free people of the world, I demand the release of John McAfee and his companions from wherever they are being held. This will not stand.”

McAfee has long spoken about fearing that his life is in danger. In June 2018, he disappeared from Twitter and then returned, saying that he was unconscious at Vidant Medical Center in North Carolina after someone tried to poison him. He then shared pictures, proving he was in the hospital:

McAfee has had concerns about his safety before. In February 2018, McAfee was scheduled to be one of the headline speakers at the Bitcoin, Ethereum and Blockchain Super Conference in Dallas. He did show up and speak, but at one point his name was not on the schedule and rumors were rampant about what was going on. Derek Dwilson, a conference attendee (and the husband of the author of this story,) reported on what was happening at the time. It turned out that McAfee didn’t want his name on the schedule because he was concerned about his safety. Dwilson wrote from the conference: “Now, to put this in context, John McAfee was billed as a speaker at this conference but is now absent from all the materials. UPDATE: John McAfee showed up and gave a pretty good talk. Word has it that he was concerned about safety if his speaking time was published beforehand.”

McAfee Tweeted a Few Days Earlier about the CIA Trying to ‘Collect’ Him

McAfee’s last tweets on his account were the day before his account said he was detained. He talked about the Justice Department and also spoke about how he had been on his boat without air conditioning and water. McAfee said no one on the boat had been able to bathe for five days.

Earlier that day he said he had been at sea for four days in rough weather and was nearing port.

On July 19, McAfee tweeted that the CIA had “tried to collect us” and so they went back out to sea and he would be dark for a few more days. On July 16, his campaign manager tweeted on his account that McAfee would be going dark on Twitter and “nothing more can be said.”

McAfee’s Campaign Manager Is Sharing Updates with the Hashtag #FreeMcAfee

Loggia-Ramirez is now providing updates under the hashtag #FreeMcAfee. Others are responding with the same hashtag.

When is the agreed next check-in ? I hope he makes it. I'm checking Twitter just to see updates on this, it better be good news by the time I return from dinner. #FreeMcAfee — artemis (@artemistemple1) July 23, 2019

#FreeMcAfee You will never take him — Swag Lord 117 (@HoLeeFu91438088) July 23, 2019

FREE MY BOY #freemcafee — The CEO of Gaming (@WixoFiller) July 23, 2019

McAfee, who’s running for President of the United States, says he’s on the run because of taxes, which he says he hasn’t paid in eight years. In January, he said he was charged with using cryptocurrency for criminal acts, Law & Crime reported, and claimed the IRS convinced a grand jury to indict him over not paying taxes. He named his boat the Freedom Boat and set sail. The claims have not been verified.

On July 19, McAfee tweeted: “I Am a presidential candidate with 1.2 mil followers. My crime is not filing tax returns – not a crime. The rest is propaganda by the U.S. government to silence me. My voice is the voice of dissent. If I am silenced, dissent itself will be next.” [sic]

He founded the antivirus company McAfee Associates in 1987 and resigned from the company in 1994. In November 2012, Fox News reported, McAfee was listed as a person of interest in the murder of Gregory Viant Faull, one of his neighbors. Fearing for his life, McAfee left Belize and was later arrested in Guatemala and deported to the U.S. McAfee has said that he was not involved in Faull’s death and in 2016 he reiterated that he was willing to testify, as long as he didn’t have to go to Belize. Belizean police did not appear to be pursuing the case as of 2014. McAfee’s island home burned down under suspicious circumstances in 2013, and the Belize police seized and auctioned his assets, CNN reported. In November 2017, McAfee said that he believed the Belize government wanted to assassinate him because he “hacked in and stole information,” Daily Mail reported. This was after an incident in Tennessee in September, when he thought he heard intruders in his home and he grabbed his gun and began firing. He said that he and his wife live in constant fear of his assassination. Belize authorities have denied these claims.

In 2016, he ran for President but was not chosen to be the Libertarian Party’s nominee. Now he’s running again for President in 2020 based on a cryptocurrency platform. He has been living off a boat on the ocean, running his campaign entirely from the sea.

In spite of past refusals, I have decided to again run for POTUS in 2020. If asked again by the Libertarian party, I will run with them. If not, I will create my own party. I believe this will best serve the crypto community by providing the ultimate campaign platform for us. — John McAfee (@officialmcafee) June 3, 2018

He first announced his 2020 campaign on June 3, 2018.

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