Salvi believed in a number of far-fetched conspiracy theories. While considered by his defense as evidence of severe mental illness, many elements of his conspiracy beliefs reflected those of others on the extreme end of anti-abortion activism: "Shortly after his arrest he released a handwritten note alleging conspiracies of Freemasons, conspiracies to manipulate paper currency, and conspiracies against Catholics. ... He has talked about the Vatican printing its own currency and a specific conspiracy of the Ku Klux Klan, the Freemasons, and the Mob."