Jeffrey Epstein’s death was announced on 4chan at least 30 minutes before his death was reported in the news. Epstein, 66, was found unresponsive after he hanged himself with a bedsheet in his jail cell in Lower Manhattan on August 10.
An anonymous 4chan user posted medical information about Epstein that only an emergency responder or hospital medical personnel would have known.
4chan is a message board populated by hackers, racists, and anti-establishment rebels.
About 40 minutes before Epstein’s death was reported publicly, a 4chan user posted: “dont ask me how I know, but Epstein died an hour ago from hanging, cardiac arrest. Screencap this.”
Other 4chan users expressed their doubts and pressed the anonymous user for more details.
The user then wrote:
“worked asystole arrest for 40 minutes, als intubated in the field/epi/2 liters NS infused. Telemetry advised bicarb and D50 in field. Pt. Transported to Lower Manhattan ER and worked for 20 minutes and called.
Hospital administrator was alerted, preparing statements.”
Translated into layman’s language, this means: Epstein was in full cardiac arrest, no heartbeat (asystole), no respirations. Paramedics worked for 40 minutes to restore a heartbeat. He was intubated (tube inserted down throat to provide oxygen). Given epinephrine to increase cardiac output and 2 liters of normal saline intravenously. A telemetry doctor advised paramedics to administer bicarbonate to reverse the acidic effects of cardiac arrest. 50% dextrose water was administered intravenously. He was transported to the hospital where doctors worked for another 20 minutes to resuscitate him before calling his time of death.
The New York City Fire Department studied the reports written by first responders who arrived at the scene, but none of their notes matched the details written in the post on 4chan.
FDNY spokesperson Frank Dwyer told BuzzFeed News the FDNY’s Office of Healthcare Compliance conducted the review. “It doesn’t match our medical records.”
Oren Barzilay, the president of the union for EMT workers Local 2507 in New York, told BuzzFeed, “our members do not release this type of confidential information, this looks like a 3rd party info.” Barzilay also told BuzzFeed News the union would investigate the potential breach of confidentiality “if such a claim came forward.”
The news that someone posted Epstein’s death first on 4chan fueled conspiracy theories, but the death of a federal judge who was overseeing Epstein’s case sent the conspiracies into overdrive.
Manhattan-based U.S. District Court Judge Robert Sweet passed away Sunday at age 96. He died of natural causes, but his connection to Epstein added a new twist to an already complex case.
Epstein was arrested in July and charged with trafficking minors across state lines. He faced life in prison if convicted on all charges.
