A decorated Army veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder called US government leadership ‘weak’ and appeared to acknowledge that he deliberately blew up a Tesla Cybertruck at the entrance to the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day, police said Friday.
Deputy Sheriff Dori Koren of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said investigators were able to access one of two phones found in the Cybertruck and view writings in an app that appeared to serve as a diary, documenting some of the movements and from the state of mind of Matthew Alan Livelsberger. from December 21 to New Year’s Eve.
Two letters in the phone app suggest a possible motive for the explosion, Koren said. In letter, he tells “military members, veterans and all Americans” that it’s time to “wake up” because the country’s leaders are “weak” and “only out to enrich themselves.” .
A second letter seems to shed more light on Livelsberger’s thinking.
“We are the United States of America, the greatest country that has ever existed, but right now we are terminally ill and heading toward collapse,” a second letter reads. “It was not a terrorist attack. It was a wake-up call. Americans only pay attention to spectacles and violence. What better way to get my message across than a stunt with fireworks and explosives. …I need to cleanse my mind of the brothers I have lost and relieve myself of the burden of the lives I have taken.
Spencer Evans, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Las Vegas division, added that the investigation as well as a consultation with the military determined that Livelsberger likely suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and that investigators were aware of the potential existence of “family or personal problems”. grievances in his own life that may have been contributing factors.
Livelsberger expressed other grievances, including conflicts elsewhere in the world and national and societal issues, Koren said. He cautioned that investigators were continuing to examine evidence found on the cellphone, and Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill said investigators had been unable to access a second phone found in the Cybertruck.
Evans said authorities have made no strong connection between the Cybertruck explosion and the suspected terrorist attack in New Orleans hours earlier that killed 14 people on Bourbon Street.
The only connections made by investigators appear fortuitous and coincidental, including the fact that both suspects rented their vehicles from the same company.
Livelsberger also has no animosity toward President-elect Donald Trump, Evans said.
Livelsberger was positively identified Thursday as the suspect behind the explosion, Las Vegas police said. The Clark County coroner determined he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.
Authorities said they were able to identify Livelsberger’s badly burned body through a variety of means, including familial DNA and tattoos.
Livelsberger, 37, was on leave of absence from the military when he rented a Tesla Cybertruck and drove from Colorado to Las Vegas, according to law enforcement. Fireworks and gasoline in the bed of that truck would later catch fire after he parked it just outside the entrance to the Trump hotel.
People who served with Liverlsberger for nearly two decades in uniform described him as a dedicated, patriotic soldier and a good teammate. Two soldiers who served with him in recent years both expressed surprise at his actions, with one saying he was “not a violent person.”
A soldier who served with Livelsberger said he frequently expressed his political views on social media, calling most of his posts “patriotic” and very pro-military, but adding that it caused a rift with some comrades due to of their political differences.
“He posted a lot of political messages on social media that made some of us uncomfortable,” this person said. The soldiers asked that their names be withheld because they are not authorized to speak publicly about the military.
Alicia Arritt, a former girlfriend of Livelsberger, told NBC News that she dated him on and off for about three years. She said he was a proud soldier who also struggled with chronic pain, which he hid from his superiors.
She said he was not overtly political when she knew him and that she had lost contact with him in recent years before suddenly receiving text messages from him in recent days. The messages indicated that he had rented a Cybertruck, but made no mention of what he was about to do.
Livelsberger’s uncle, Dean Livelsberger, also told The Independent that Livelsberger was a very patriotic American and a strong supporter of Trump. He did not immediately respond to an interview request from NBC News.
NBC News reviewed social media profiles that appear to have belonged to Livelsberger and which show a man who traveled extensively and recently had a child. Army officials said he first entered active duty in 2006, served in the National Guard and Army Reserves, and was reinstated in the active duty Army in December 2012 and that he was a U.S. Army Special Operations soldier.
Online, Livelsberger has documented trips to Thailand and Italy on Tripadvisor and contributed photos to Google Maps including food at a bistro bar in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and at a church in France, as well as ‘a warning about a scam in a club in Mexico. country of Georgia. He also published articles about the attractions of Colorado, where he lived.
Beyond that, Livelsberger had a relatively limited online presence that included a LinkedIn page and a Facebook profile.
During his military career, Livelsberger was deployed to the Republic of Congo in 2014, Ukraine in 2016, Tajikistan in 2016 and Afghanistan in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
Public records show Livelsberger married in 2012, then divorced in 2018. Records also mention a marriage petition filed in 2022. Also in 2022, a Livelsberger woman was apparently in a relationship with photos posted online showing her wearing a wedding ring.
On Facebook in September, Livelsberger posted a photo showing him and his partner cradling a newborn baby, then a photo of himself holding the child while standing in front of a body of water. His right arm was covered in tattoos – tattoos that law enforcement would later use to help identify his body after the Cybertruck explosion – which showed a recent addition to his tattoo sleeve near his right elbow: a triple crescent symbol of three interlocking moons.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or live chat on 988lifeline.org. You can also visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional support.
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