As the rumor has it, he was killed in Ukrainian bunker struck by a Russian missile. There have been a number of such rumored strikes over time and it does not seem surprising, but how are we to decide? Well, this was posted on r/conspiracy today in the wake of the rumor:
Is Loyd Austin Dead ? (1/8/2024)
The top-voted comment, the one that will be read by almost everyone who opens the post, says:
The info you shared is all wrong. He was not in Ukraine when he got hospitalised. But in the US.
The problem? The inept Cognitive Warrior that created the post just put in a stock picture of Austin and forgot to include a link or any text. There's no mention of the rumor or anything else at all.
But the first fake commenter replies as if the rumor was there instead of, "WTF does this mean? Why do you think he's dead. It's just a pic of him." So there's your tip-off. Then the lame OP replies to that comment with:
I am sure it is just clickbait and that he will show up at a presser relatively soon. Just wanted to see what the conspiracy community says about this.
To get what we're seeing, we would have to believe that the OP then--for some bizarre and unknowable reason--went back to the original post and just deleted all the text. Technically possible, but I'd sooner buy in to the adventures of Bob Lazar.
Final observation: Did you note the spelling errors and funky grammar to make it all seem more legit? Nice touch, right?
EDIT: If you're looking for at least some account of the circumstances, this is the only one I know of (from what many consider a fictional news site), so FWIW:
Russian Claim: Austin Dead In Ukraine (RRN 1/7/2024)
The secretary is pining for the fjords.
Author has missed the main point here. The US is actively collapsing. It wasn't just the public who wasn't informed, it was the White House. Fiefdoms are emerging, not beholden to the US government. The DOD/Pentagon has just shown it's one of them. They act independently of government.
Trump ordered the military out of Syria. They ignored him.
The regrettable part of the situation we're faced with in the world is that (no matter the truth of the Lloyd Austin situation) if you approached a normie with any of the evidence--strong or weak or absurd--of this thesis, they'd just say, "Uh, people go to the fucking hospital sometimes, you fucking idiot," as if that settled the matter.
And I don't think Lloyd was a bottom, so I reject that one explanation. Well okay, maybe he was a power bottom.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68171107
Guess what? He's not dead.
I can't believe anyone actually posts that they believe what the BBC says, but then there it is.
So the video is cgi? A clone?
Are you one of those people that needs someone else to tell them what to think? Maybe conspiracy theory isn't really the hobby for you.
So you believe that BBC faked the video of Austin?
Why can't you answer the question?
When he appears in public next, all who bought into this bullshit Russkie disinfo story will either pretend that it's a clone or pretend that they never believed it in the first place.