The suspect in Wednesday’s Tesla Cybertruck blast outside a Trump hotel in Las Vegas has been identified as 37-year-old Matthew Alan Livelsberger, an active-duty US Army Green Beret.
Livelsberger was identified as the person who leased the Cybertruck, and his IDs and credit cards were discovered in the vehicle; however, the body was charred beyond recognition, and officials are currently awaiting a DNA test to confirm his identification.
The Cybertruck was blown up with firecracker mortars and gas canisters, a primitive explosive that someone with Livelsberger’s military training might utilize. The deceased had a gunshot wound to the head that officials believe was self-inflicted. Because cybertrucks can drive themselves, some believe he died before reaching at the Trump hotel if the device was detonated on a timer.
Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill stated he felt “comfortable calling it a suicide with a bombing that occurred immediately after.” The blast killed no one else, and seven persons close suffered minor injuries.
The blast came just a few hours after another US Army veteran, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, drove a truck into a crowd in New Orleans, killing 15. The FBI has stated that there is no “definitive link” between the two occurrences, although there are some parallels.
Both Livelsberger and Jabbar rented their vehicles through the Turo app, and while both men had previously served at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, the fort is one of the world’s largest military facilities in terms of population.
The FBI claims Jabbar proclaimed his allegiance to ISIS prior to the New Orleans incident, but there is no evidence Livelsberger was motivated by anything ISIS-related.
Livelsberger was a renowned combat veteran who had served in the Army for 20 years. The US Army stated that he had been sent to Afghanistan twice and had previously served in Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia, and Congo (which means he had extensive experience in special ops and could have been indoctrinated for suicide to “serve the nation”).
The purpose behind the Cybertruck blast is unknown. The use of a Tesla vehicle in front of a Trump hotel suggests that it was intended to be symbolic, as Tesla CEO Elon Musk is a strong supporter of the president-elect, but a family member of Livelsberger stated that he was strongly pro-Trump.
“He loved Trump, and he was always a very, very patriotic soldier, a patriotic American. It’s one of the reasons he was in Special Forces for so many years. It wasn’t just one tour of duty,” his uncle, Dean Livelsberger, told The Independent.
According to social media posts, Livelsberger supported Ukraine and may have helped recruit military contractors for the fight. Livelsberger remarked on a LinkedIn post advertising a 30-day contract in Ukraine for a tactical combat casualty care instructor.
“I’ve got a top 18D [Special Forces medical sergeant] recently ETSd who is looking for just this opportunity, sent him your way,” Livelsberger.
A Facebook photo believed to be from 2016 shows Livelsberger wearing a shirt that reads “Slava Ukraini,” which translates to “Glory to Ukraine” in English.
Ryan Routh, who was arrested in September 2024 for allegedly attempting to assassinate Trump, was ardently pro-Ukraine and helped recruit for Ukraine’s foreign legion, implying that his motivation was Trump’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
