The suspect in Wednesday’s Tesla Cybertruck bombing that occurred 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 rented the Cybertruck, and his IDs and credit cards were found in the vehicle, but the body was burned beyond recognition, and authorities say they’re still waiting on a DNA test to confirm his identity.
The Cybertruck was blown up using firework mortars and gas canisters, a crude explosive for someone with Livelsberger’s military experience to use. The body had a gunshot wound to the head, which authorities say was self-inflicted. Since Cybertrucks can be self-driving, some have speculated he could have been dead before arriving at the Trump hotel if the bomb was detonated using a timer.
Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill said he was “comfortable calling it a suicide with a bombing that occurred immediately after.” No one else was killed in the blast, and seven people nearby sustained minor injuries.
The bombing occurred just a few hours after Shamsud-Din Jabbar, another US Army veteran, plowed a truck into a crowd in New Orleans, killing 15. The FBI has said there’s no “definitive link” between the two incidents, though there are some similarities.
Both Livelsberger and Jabbar used the app Turo to rent the vehicles they used, and both men had previously served at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, but the fort is one of the largest military bases in the world by population size.
The FBI said Jabbar declared his loyalty to ISIS before the New Orleans attack, but there’s no indication Livelsberger was motivated by anything ISIS-related.
Livelsberger was a decorated combat veteran who had been in the Army for 20 years. The US Army said he had been deployed to Afghanistan twice and also served in Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia, and Congo.
The motive for the Cybertruck bombing is unclear. Using a Tesla vehicle in front of a Trump hotel suggests it could have been meant to be symbolic since Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been a major supporter of the president-elect, but a family member of Livelsberger said he was very 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.
Posts from social media suggest Livelsberger was pro-Ukraine and may have been involved in helping recruit military contractors for the conflict. On his LinkedIn account, Livelsberger commented on a 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 appears to show Livelsberger wearing a shirt that says, “Slava Ukraini,” which translates to “Glory to Ukraine” in English.
Ryan Routh, who was arrested in September 2024 for allegedly trying to assassinate Trump, was staunchly pro-Ukraine and helped recruit for Ukraine’s foreign legion, suggesting his motive was Trump’s calls to end the war in Ukraine.
