NYPD Officers Who Died After Alleged Weiner Laptop Involvement
Background
In September 2016, the FBI seized a laptop belonging to Anthony Weiner during a sexting investigation involving a minor. The laptop contained approximately 650,000 emails, including correspondence between Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin (Weiner's wife and Clinton's top aide). FBI Agent John Robertson, working in the FBI New York office's child sex crimes unit, examined the laptop.
A widely circulated claim states that 12 NYPD officers viewed files on Weiner's laptop, and 9 of them subsequently died — all by self-inflicted gunshot wounds. Seven officers are named specifically:
Named Officers
| Name | Rank | Date of Death | Circumstances |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steven Silks | Deputy Chief | June 5, 2019 | Found dead in a police vehicle in Queens |
| Joseph Calabrese | Detective | June 6, 2019 | Found dead at Plum Beach, Brooklyn |
| Michael Caddy | Officer | June 14, 2019 | 121st Precinct, Staten Island |
| Kevin Preiss | Officer | June 27, 2019 | Found at his Long Island home |
| Terrence McAvoy | Sergeant | July 27, 2019 | Named in claims |
| Johnny Rios | Unknown | Unknown | Limited independent information |
| Robert Echeverria | Unknown | Unknown | Found with gunshot wound at his Laurelton home |
Two additional unnamed individuals are claimed as deceased, bringing the total to 9 out of 12.
Verified Facts
- The laptop was real and contained ~650,000 emails including Clinton-Abedin correspondence
- 10 NYPD officers died by suicide in 2019 — independently verified by CNN, NBC, TIME, and other outlets. NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill publicly declared it a "mental health crisis"
- Erik Prince (Blackwater founder) claimed on Breitbart Radio on November 4, 2016 that "well-placed sources" in the NYPD said the department wanted to make arrests based on laptop evidence but received "huge pushback" from the DOJ
- FBI Agent John Robertson discovered the emails and was frustrated that FBI leadership (including Andrew McCabe and Peter Strzok) delayed action for weeks
Disputed Elements
- Custody chain: The FBI seized the laptop directly — the NYPD's role was limited to the initial reporting of the sexting allegations
- No verified connection: None of the named officers have been independently confirmed as having any role in examining the Weiner laptop
- Temporal gap: The laptop was seized in September 2016; the suicides occurred in mid-2019, nearly three years later
- Geographic dispersal: The officers who died worked in different boroughs (Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Long Island) with no apparent operational connections
- Source quality: The specific "9 of 12" claim traces to conspiracy-oriented outlets (True Pundit, Hal Turner) rather than credible investigative journalism
- Unit assignments: None of the named officers have been confirmed as assigned to units with any jurisdiction over the Weiner investigation or laptop evidence
The June 2019 Cluster
The four deaths in a 22-day span in June 2019 are independently verified and were widely reported as an unprecedented crisis:
- June 5: Deputy Chief Steven Silks, 62 (38-year veteran)
- June 6: Detective Joseph Calabrese, 58 (Brooklyn Homicide)
- June 14: Officer Michael Caddy, 29
- June 27: Officer Kevin Preiss
Assessment
This claim takes two real events — (1) the 2016 Weiner laptop seizure and (2) the 2019 NYPD suicide crisis — and connects them retroactively. The connection remains unverified by any credible investigative source. The deaths themselves are real and documented.
See Also
- Jeffrey Epstein — Central figure
- Ghislaine Maxwell — Only convicted co-conspirator still alive
- Full death list — Complete database of all Epstein-related deaths