The actions of U.S. Army soldier Matthew Livelsberger in the Tesla Cybertruck explosion at President-elect Donald Trump‘s Las Vegas hotel are “not politically motivated,” a former official for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said.
Newsweek reached out to the U.S. Army via email for comment Saturday morning.
Why It Matters
In the wake of the incident, investigators have been trying to determine whether Livelsberger sought to make a political statement given that it occurred at Trump’s hotel and it was a car manufactured by Tesla, a company headed by Trump ally Elon Musk, that was blown up.
Spencer Evans, the Las Vegas FBI‘s special agent in charge, told reporters Thursday, “It’s not lost on us that it’s in front of the Trump building, that it’s a Tesla vehicle, but we don’t have information at this point that definitively tells us or suggests it was because of this particular ideology.”
What To Know
Livelsberger, a 37-year Green Beret who was deployed to Afghanistan twice, fatally shot himself in the head inside the Cybertruck that erupted into flames outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day. Livelsberger was on leave from Germany at the time of the incident, according to authorities.
Police said they found gasoline tanks, camping fuel and large firework mortars in the back of the vehicle. Police also found a handgun at Livelsberger’s feet, another firearm, a passport, a military ID, credit cards, an iPhone and a smartwatch.
Seven other people suffered minor injuries in Wednesday’s incident.
Law enforcement officials said they do not believe Livelsberger had any negative feelings toward Trump, according to the Associated Press. Meanwhile, Livelsberger said in one of the notes he left behind that the U.S. needed to “rally around” Trump and Musk, the AP reported.
Ex-DHS Official Weighs in on Cybertruck Incident
Donell Harvin, former Washington D.C. chief of Homeland Security and Intelligence, told CNN‘s Wolf Blitzer on The Situation Room Friday night, “These new details shed some light on the fact that, in my professional opinion, this was not a politically motivated violence. This is a tragic case as the Las Vegas police said of suicide.”
Harvin then mentioned a report released by the Pentagon in May 2024 titled, “U.S. Army Mortality Surveillance in Active Duty Soldiers, 2014–2019.”
“It’s also worth noting, Wolf, that just last year, the Pentagon put out a report that stated that suicide was actually the highest cause of death among active-duty military members,” Harvin said.
He continued: “They looked at a five-year period and found that active-duty military members were nine times more likely to die of suicide than of active combat, and so this provides us an opportunity to think about the men and women that are serving in uniform for us and the services that are being provided to them.”
The study found that from 2014 to 2019, 883 active-duty soldiers died by suicide while 96 were killed in combat.
Livelsberger Said Explosion Was ‘Wakeup Call’
In one note written by Livelsberger that authorities found, the soldier wrote, “This was not a terrorist attack, it was a wakeup call. Americans only pay attention to spectacles and violence. What better way to get my point across than a stunt with fireworks and explosives.”
He also said he needed to “cleanse my mind” of the lives lost of people he knew and “the burden of the lives I took.”
Meanwhile, Livelsberger reportedly sent a manifesto-like email to retired U.S. Army intelligence officer Sam Shoemate just days before the incident.
Shoemate revealed the email on The Shawn Ryan Show podcast, describing its contents as allegations of advanced drone technology, a cover-up of a 2019 airstrike in Afghanistan and claims of being under U.S. government surveillance.
According to Shoemate, part of the email read, “You need to elevate this to the media so we avoid a world war because this is a mutually assured destruction situation.”
What People Are Saying
Las Vegas’ FBI‘s special agent in charge Spencer Evans said Friday at a news conference: “Although this incident is more public and more sensational than usual, it ultimately appears to be a tragic case of suicide involving a heavily decorated combat veteran who was struggling with PTSD and other issues.”
Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters Friday that “the [Defense] department has turned over all [of Livelsberger’s] medical records to local law enforcement.”
What Happens Now
The investigation into the Cybertruck explosion remains ongoing.
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