Accused Cybertruck bomber penned anti-government manifesto and possibly had PTSD: report
The man accused of perpetrating the Cybertruck bombing at Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas wrote a manifesto critical of the government — and may have had untreated mental health issues from his time in the Special Forces, reported NBC News.
Matthew Livelsberger, who was found dead with a gunshot wound in the burned-out remains of the pickup, was a Green Beret who lived in Colorado Springs. Previous reporting indicated his family described him as a "Rambo-type" person and an avid Trump supporter.
Clark County Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren said investigators accessed "one of two phones found in the Cybertruck and viewed writing in an app that served almost as a journal, documenting some of ... Livelsberger's movements and state of mind from Dec. 21 to New Year's Eve," the report continued. "Two letters in the phone app appear to point to a motive in the blast, Koren said. In one, he tells 'fellow service members, veterans and all Americans' it's time to 'wake up' because the country's leadership is 'weak' and 'only serves to enrich themselves.'"
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Livelsberger's writings indicated he had no animosity for Trump, and didn't view his actions as terrorism.
"We are the United States of America, the best country ... to ever exist, but right now, we are terminally ill and headed towards collapse," said the letter. "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. ... I need to cleanse my mind of the brothers I’ve lost, and relieve myself of the burden of the lives I took."
Authorities further stated that Livelsberger likely suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, and had "family issues or personal grievances in his own life that may have been contributing factors."
Earlier in the investigation, police were investigating whether this explosion, which left seven other people injured, had any connection to the vehicle-ramming attack in New Orleans that killed 15 and appeared to have been inspired by ISIS. But authorities appear to have ruled this out; the perpetrator of this attack was stationed at the same military base as Livelsberger and the two rented their vehicles from the same service, but these appear to be coincidences.