According to authorities on Friday, a distinguished Army veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder labeled the leadership of the U.S. government weak and seemed to admit that he intentionally detonated a Tesla Cybertruck at the door of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day.
Investigators were able to access one of the two phones that were discovered in the Cybertruck, according to Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. They looked at writing on an app that appeared to be a journal, which documented some of Matthew Alan Livelsberger’s whereabouts and mental state between December 21 and New Year’s Eve.
According to Koren, two letters in the phone app point to a potential reason for the explosion. He reminds veterans, fellow service members, and all Americans in one letter that it’s time to wake up because the nation’s leadership is incompetent and only looks out for itself.
Livelsberger’s thoughts seemed to be clarified in a second letter.
According to a second letter, “We are the United States of America, the best country… to ever exist, but right now we are terminally ill and heading towards collapse.” This was not an act of terrorism. It served as a warning. Americans are solely interested in violence and show. What better method to convey my message than with a fireworks and explosions stunt?… I need to free myself from the weight of the lives I took and purge my mind of the brothers I’ve lost.
According to Spencer Evans, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Las Vegas division, the investigation and Army consultation revealed that Livelsberger most likely suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. Investigators also know that Livelsberger may have had personal grievances or family issues that contributed to his condition.
According to Koren, Livelsberger voiced other complaints on home and societal difficulties as well as conflicts in other parts of the world. they are still reviewing the evidence on the smartphone, he warned, and according to Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill, they have not been able to access a second phone that was discovered in the Cybertruck.
According to Evans, officials have not found any concrete links between the Cybertruck explosion and the purported terrorist attack that killed 14 people on Bourbon Street in New Orleans a few hours earlier.
The only connections that detectives have found seem to be fortuitous and accidental, such as the fact that both suspects leased cars from the same firm.
Evans added that Livelsberger had no ill will against Donald Trump, the president-elect.
According to Las Vegas police, Livelsberger was identified as the blast suspect on Thursday. According to investigators, the coroner for Clark County concluded that he had shot himself to death.
Authorities claimed that using a variety of techniques, such as family DNA and tattoos, they were able to identify Livelsberger’s severely charred remains.
According to federal enforcement officials, Livelsberger, 37, hired a Tesla Cybertruck and drove from Colorado to Las Vegas while on authorized leave from the military. He positioned the truck directly outside the door of the Trump hotel, where gas in the bed and fireworks would later catch fire.
Those who knew Liverlsberger during his nearly twenty years in uniform saw him as a good colleague and a patriotic, committed soldier. He was not an aggressive person, according to one of the two troops who served with him in recent years, who also expressed surprise at his conduct.
One soldier who served with Livelsberger said he frequently expressed his political views on social media, describing most of the posts as patriotic and very pro-military, but adding that it caused a rift with some fellow soldiers over their political differences.
According to the person, he frequently shared political comments on social media that unnerved several of us. Since they are not permitted to publicly discuss service members, the troops requested that their names be kept private.
Alicia Arritt, a former girlfriend of Livelsberger s,told NBC Newsshe dated him on and off for about three years. She said he was a proud soldier who also battled chronic pain, which she said he hid from his superiors.
She said he was not overtly political when she knew him, and that she had lost touch with him in recent years before suddenly receiving text messages from him in recent days. The messages included that he had rented a Cybertruck, but did not hint at what he was about to do.
Livelsberger s uncle Dean Livelsberger alsotold The Independentthat Livelsberger was a very patriotic American who was an avid supporter of Trump s. He did not immediately respond to an NBC News interview request.
NBC News reviewed social media profiles that appear to have belonged to Livelsberger that show a well-traveled man who recently had a child. Army officials said he first entered active duty in 2006, served in the National Guard and the Army Reserve, and re-entered the active-duty Army in December 2012 and was a U.S. Army special operations soldier.
Online, Livelsberger documented trips to Thailand and Italy on Tripadvisor, and contributed photos to Google Maps that included food at a bar bistro in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and a church in France, as well as warning of a scam at a club in the country of Georgia. He also posted about attractions in Colorado, where he lived.
Beyond that, Livelsberger had a relatively limited online presence that included a LinkedIn page and a Facebook profile.
In his military career, Livelsberger deployed to the Republic of the Congo in 2014, Ukraine in 2016, Tajikistan in 2016 and Afghanistan in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
Public records show that Livelsberger was married in 2012 and later divorced in 2018. Records also list a marriage application filed in 2022. Also in 2022, a woman Livelsberger was apparently in a relationship with posted pictures online that showed her wearing a wedding ring.
On Facebook in September, Livelsberger posted a photo showing him and his partner cradling a newborn, and then posted 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 that 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 the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or chat live at988lifeline.org. You can also visitSpeakingOfSuicide.com/resourcesfor additional support.
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