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Did John McAfee release a secret message? His Instagram posts 'Q' pic minutes after his death

Shortly after his death was announced, someone uploaded an image of the letter Q to McAfee's Instagram page, driving speculation about QAnon

QAnon followers have taken America by storm, both literally and metaphorically. Remember the Q flags during the January 6 insurrection? And of course, who can forget Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's love of espousing QAnon theories. It appears as if the mysterious internet cult has a new follower - antivirus pioneer John McAfee. 

There have been few things that are as controversial as QAnon. Noted QAnon "shaman" Jake Angeli was one of the many Q followers spotted during the Capitol insurrection. Shortly after the riots, followers took to social media to claim then-president Donald Trump "spoke to them in Morse Code", during his video condemning the riots. So controversial was their presence, that Twitter was forced to suspend over 70k Q-promoting accounts while Amazon announced it would remove all QAnon products. 

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The mysterious Q has gained followers not just with ordinary Trump-loving Americans, but also a host of other big names. From Alex Jones to Roseanne Barr, and Rep Greene to Celebrity chef Pete Evans, numerous people in the past have promoted QAnon. The latest to do so in businessman John McAfee, albeit in a strange way.

Was John McAfee a Q follower?

Around 30 minutes after it was reported McAfee killed himself in a Spanish prison, his Instagram account uploaded a new post. Without any caption, hashtags or context, the account uploaded an image of a large black Q on a white background. Remember, this was after he was reportedly found dead. The post was immediately filled with comments, ranging from the funny to the truly bizarre. However, there seems to be little to address the fact McAfee chose to post Q. Does that have a bigger message than just being "one last act of trolling", as one user commented?

It is possible. McAfee was known for his eccentric lifestyle and beliefs, so much so that he even spoke about his death back in 2019. McAfee posted an image on Twitter of a new "whackd" tattoo, and said, "I got a tattoo today just in case. If I suicide myself, I didn't. I was whackd. Check my right arm." However, we couldn't find any indications of McAfee spreading QAnon theories in the past. None of his social media posts seem to feature any prominent Q-related content, which does make this latest Instagram post truly bizarre. 

However, that hasn't stopped QAnon followers from co-opting McAfee's death. Similar to claims that Jeffery Epstein didn't kill himself, people are now tweeting that McAfee didn't do so, even using the hashtag #McAfeeDidntKillHimself. The theory is now rapidly spreading on social media, including Twitter and Telegram. As the conspiracy theory builds, it remains unclear who posted that image. 

According to Business Insider, Instagram was "looking" into the matter. Until we get an official statement from McAfee's estate, this theory is likely to continue spreading like wildfire. However, it should be noted that the post doesn't necessarily mean McAfee was a Q follower. As we previously said, he has no history so this could just be a mistake, or someone from McAfee's team having a bit of fun. 

Whatever the reason, QAnon followers wasted no time in jumping on social media to "confirm" the theory that McAfee was one of them. One user tweeted, "Rumour confirmed. McAfee Q pic has a cryptographic KEY embedded in the image file. I was able to view this in Photoshop. And Epstein didn't kill himself. Instructions: FBMD23000965010000290400004b0400009d0400007a0c0000f90d0000af1000005e1200000414000068170000." That very same tweet, with the same image, was reposted by numerous other accounts. 

QAnon followers are known for co-opting major news stories to promote their beliefs. During the Texas winter storm that left the state without power, theorists claimed Bill Gates was behind the unusual weather. So it likely that they are just jumping on the news of McAfee's death, not because he was actually related to Q. That said, there is a large Q on McAfee's Instagram page. Only time will tell what it truly means and if McAfee was secretly a QAnon follower.