The Green Beret who shot himself seconds before the Tesla Cybertruck he rented went up in a fiery explosion outside Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day referred to the event as “a wake up call” and effort to rid himself of the “burden” of the lives he took in combat. He also advocated a Jan. 6-like takeover of federal buildings and the ouster of Democrats from government and the military.
“Try peaceful means first, but be prepared to fight to get the Dems out of the fed government and military by any means necessary,” he wrote. “They all must go and a hard reset must occur for our country to avoid collapse.”
“Fellow Servicemembers, Veterans and all Americans, TIME TO WAKE UP! We are being led by weak and feckless leadership who only serve to enrich themselves,” Matthew Livelsberger wrote on one of two iPhones retrieved from the vehicle, in what police call two letters and a journal detailing his preparations in the ten days leading up to his suicide.
Evidence reviewed by police thus far “scratches the surface” of the information retrieved by investigators, Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at a news conference Friday.
Metro’s release of the text following the news conference revealed Livelsberger’s messaging spiraled into a rant urging militia to line streets and converge on federal buildings.
“We are the United States of America, the best country people to ever exist! But right now we are terminally ill and headed towards collapse,” reads a second entry. “This 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 point across than a stunt with fireworks and explosives? Why did I personally do it now? I needed to cleanse my mind of the brothers I’ve lost, and relieve myself of the burden of the lives I took.”
“We are also aware that there were potential other family issues or personal grievances in his own life that may have been contributing factors,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Spencer Evans told reporters.
He added that law enforcement learned through interviews that Livelsberger suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and had “no animosity toward the president-elect.”
Livelsberger urges the nation to rally around Trump and Elon Musk, and calls for a negotiated settlement in Ukraine.
“Focus on strength and winning. Masculinity is good and men must be leaders. Strength is a deterrent and fear is the product,” he wrote.
“Stop obsessing over diversity,” he added. “We are all diverse and DEI is a cancer. Thankfully we rejected the DEI candidate and will have a real President instead of Weekend at Bernie’s.”
Authorities have found no definitive connection between Livelsberger and the perpetrator of the New Orleans Bourbon St. massacre on New Year’s Day.
McMahill observed that the highly-decorated soldier who served five tours of combat was “not much different” than the officers at Metro, and noted the department’s focus on “taking care of the heart, mind, body and soul of the people that are out there doing this work because they’re exposed to things, they see things, they hear things, they feel things, and they smell things that most normal people don’t have to do. And the heroes that are serving in the military and on the front lines of America’s policing are challenged that way.”
The incident, he said, is a reminder to “pay attention to what mental health in America looks like” and a reminder of the “need to talk about these things.”
Note: This story was updated with information included in a link police provided to two of the notes found on Livelsberger’s phone.
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