Despite the symbolism that may be associated with the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, law enforcement officials said Thursday they are still trying to understand why a five-time winner of the ‘Bronze Star and his new father would orchestrate New Year’s Day. blast.
Focusing on a motive seemed complicated by the first portrait of the Tesla driver, Matthew Alan Livelsberger, 37, of Colorado, who died in the incident that injured seven other people.
A family member and former Army colleague described him as a highly decorated combat veteran whose background in special forces and explosives seemed at odds with an explosion that relied, in part, on fire. ‘artifice.
And, they said, Livelsberger had a great love for his country – especially for the president-elect.
“When President Trump was in office (Livelsberger) would comment on his Facebook page about things President Trump had said or done or how he was helping the military,” the insider, who asked to remain anonymous, told CNN . “Matt had a lot of respect for Mr. Trump – he just loved the guy.”
Livelsberger was not affiliated with any political party, according to the Colorado Secretary of State’s voter registration database.
Livelsberger, an active-duty U.S. Army Green Beret, was on leave from his base in Germany at the time of the explosion – a combination of fireworks, gas tanks and camping fuel in the crate of the vehicle exploded by a device controlled by the driver. sources told CNN. According to law enforcement, he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the driver’s seat shortly before the explosive contained in the Tesla’s trunk detonated.
Livelsberger’s body was so badly burned that authorities identified him by charred ID cards and partial tattoos visible on his body. They said they are waiting for DNA and medical results to make definitive confirmation.
Investigators fanned out this week to interview family and friends and search phones and computers for clues. Livelsberger’s social media presence was rare and, at the time of the outburst, made few or no references to politics.
“It’s not lost on us that it’s in front of … the Trump building, that it’s a Tesla vehicle,” Spencer Evans, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Las Vegas division, said during a press conference on Thursday. “But we don’t have information at this point that definitively tells us, or suggests, that it was because of this particular ideology.”
The Las Vegas explosion bears striking similarities to a deadly attack in New Orleans earlier in the morning, when a US military driver plowed a rental van into a crowd celebrating New Year’s Eve on Bourbon Street, killing 14 people. The two attackers used the company Turo to rent their vehicles.
“Both subjects served at Fort Bragg in North Carolina,” Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at a news conference Thursday, referring to the military base now known as Fort Liberty. “What we do know is that this is a very large military base, and we have no record that they served in the same unit or even in the same years at Fort Bragg .”
McMahill added that both men served in Afghanistan in 2009, although there is no indication they served in the same unit or province.
Another member of the Green Berets who served with Livelsberger in Afghanistan said one of the main goals of their mission was to dismantle a network of Taliban-aligned forces that had detonated car bombs in and around Kabul in the aimed at destabilizing the government.
The former colleague, who asked not to be identified, said his unit was often tasked with keeping a crucial highway clear of improvised explosive devices.
“They were just set up all along this highway and it seemed like – especially towards the end of the deployment – a lot of guys were getting hit,” he said. “Fortunately, our unit was never hit, but other units that cohabited with us were hit by IEDs. »
The comrade, who had remained in contact with Livelsberger since their deployment, said he did not know whether the Cybertruck explosion was in any way inspired by the type of attacks so common in the Cybertruck’s mission. unit.
The military colleague said he was shocked by the Las Vegas incident, especially given Livelsberger’s impressive credentials: a Green Beret with experience in communications, IT and tactical unmanned aerial vehicles. Livelsberger also gradually progressed in his military rank until he became a team sergeant, second in command to the captain in the special forces detachment – a position he held until recently, his comrade said.
“It doesn’t take a genius to say that this guy will have several career options to choose from when he gets out,” the soldier said.
Livelsberger was an Army Special Forces operations master sergeant, a senior enlisted rank, according to four U.S. officials. He was on active duty in Germany with the 10th Special Forces Group but was on leave at the time of the incident, three officials said.
Livelsberger’s relative, who said he hadn’t spoken to him in at least a decade but saw updates about his life through Facebook posts, remembers Livelsberger as a smart and popular student in high school.
“He played most of the regular sports and was often the team captain,” he said.
The relative said Livelsberger wanted to join the special forces from a young age and had been very successful in his career, which included several tours of duty in Afghanistan.
“If he really wanted to hurt people, he could have hurt a lot of people,” he said. “But it’s not in his nature, it’s never been in his nature.”
Livelsberger’s military colleague described him as a “kind-hearted” member of the unit who bought toys for Afghan children and helped build a kennel for a stray dog adopted as a pet on the base.
“Even in a place like Afghanistan, where the heart can be hardened by the nature of the mission, he never seemed to go down that path and always seemed to have his humanity firmly in place,” said his comrade.
His former military colleague told CNN that he had remained in casual contact with Livelsberger since their deployment ended and even sent a gift when he became a father in April last year. Livelsberger’s second wife, whom he married in 2022, sent a thank you letter to his colleague, he said.
She did not respond to CNN’s requests for comment.
The comrade said his friend never indicated he was having difficulty – either during their deployment to Afghanistan, where they had combat experience, or afterward.
“It makes me really sad to know that maybe something was going on with Matt and none of us knew,” he said after briefly choking up. “We all obviously would have reached out and done whatever we could to help him. »
