A prominent police chief has become a central figure in numerous conspiracy theories after being accused of aiding rap mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs in covering up a gang rape.
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In a recent federal court filing in Northern California, Maui Police Chief John Pelletier was named for allegedly helping Diddy, NFL star Odell Beckham Jr., and comedian Drew “Druski” Desbordes conceal a sexual assault.
Yet despite the seriousness of the allegations, conspiracy theorists are attempting to accuse Pelletier of far more, tying him to both the Las Vegas mass shooting and the Maui wildfires.
Given Pelletier’s current role in Maui, conspiracy theorists are convinced that the police chief was somehow responsible for the devastating wildfires in 2023.
Pelletier was chief at the time of the fires, giving numerous press conferences after the natural disaster.
At the time of the wildfires, numerous absurd claims spread, including that the wildfires were started by high-tech laser beams in order to aid celebrity Oprah Winfrey in a land grab. While the conspiracy theories provide no evidence or even details, Pelletier is now accused of somehow being part of the imagined operation.
An X user named The General, known for spreading the debunked QAnon conspiracy theory, highlighted the news by accusing Pelletier of trying to kill fire victims in Hawaii.
“BREAKING: Maui Police Chief John Pelletier, who ordered victims to be trapped in the Lahaina fire, has now been named a co-conspirator in the Diddy case,” they wrote.
Prior to his role in Maui, Pelletier worked for 22 years with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. In 2017, during his tenure, a gunman on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel opened fire on a music festival below, killing 60 people and wounding at least 413 others.
A motive for the shooting was never discovered, leading to an explosion of conspiracy theories at the time. In light of the lawsuit against Diddy, conspiratorial social media users are once again suggesting, without evidence, that Pelletier was somehow involved in hiding the truth about the tragedy.
QAnon promoter Tara Bull argued in a post on X that none of the perceived connections were a coincidence.
“Anyone recognize this man? Maui Police Chief John Pelletier, who was also incident commander for the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, was just named in the Diddy case,” she wrote. “They’ll tell you this is just a coincidence.”
Former MMA fighter and prominent antisemite Jake Shields made similar remarks.
“John Pelletier was chief police during the Vegas which was the worst mass shooting in US history,” he wrote. “He was the chief of police during the Maui fires which killed 102 people. He’s now being accused of being involved in the Diddy cover-up. I’m sure it’s all just a coincidence.”
Though some posts said he was police chief at the time of the Las Vegas shooting, he was a captain. He did serve as incident commander for the shooting, where he managed the response and investigation.
Whether claims that Pelletier is a deep state asset used to orchestrate and oversee government-run false flags will detract from the Diddy case remains to be seen.
Diddy, Pelletier, Beckham, and Desbordes have all denied the accusations outlined in the lawsuit.
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