Matthew Livelsberger’s uncle has claimed that the shocking Cybertruck hotel explosion in Las Vegas was actually a peaceful act that was not intended to hurt anyone.
Livelsberger “could have made a bomb that would have destroyed half of that hotel if he was serious about hurting others,” his uncle Dean Livelsberger said. The independent.
“Think of Oklahoma City… (ex-Army soldier Timothy) McVeigh was just a normal soldier. Not a Tier 1 operator like Matt,” Dean Livelsberger added, referring to the 1995 homegrown terrorist attack that killed 168 people.
Livelsberger, 37, was identified as the man who drove a rented Tesla to the Trump International Hotel in Vegas before fatally shooting himself while detonating explosives, injuring seven people on New Year’s Day.
He served in the Army since 2006 and rose through the ranks with a long career of overseas assignments. He was deployed twice to Afghanistan and served in Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia and Congo, the military said.
Livelsberger received two Bronze Stars, including one with a courage device for bravery under fire, a combat infantry badge and an Army Commendation Medal with valor. According to the statement, Livelsberger was on approved leave when he died.
Livelsberger ‘could have made a bomb that would have destroyed half of that hotel if he really wanted to hurt others,’ his uncle said
Livelsberger, seen during one of his deployments, was a highly decorated Green Beret
The Oklahoma City bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building killed 68 people
Timothy McVeigh was a former army soldier
He was burned beyond recognition in the explosion and was identified by his tattoos, Sheriff Kevin McMahill said Thursday.
As detectives investigate possible motives, it has emerged that Livelsberger has broken up with his wife, with whom he shares a small child.
His uncle Dean Livelsberger told The Independent that his cousin was “100 percent a patriot,” describing him as a “Rambo type.”
“He used to have all the patriotic stuff on Facebook, he loved the country 100 percent,” he continued. “He loved Trump, and he was always a very, very patriotic soldier, a patriotic American. It’s one of the reasons he spent so many years in the Special Forces. It wasn’t just a business trip.’
The electric vehicle, rented through the Turo app, exploded about 15 seconds after the driver pulled up to the hotel entrance. Police are still looking for a motive for the attack.
Sheriff McMahill addressed the similarities between the act of terror in Vegas and that in New Orleans by Texas native Shamsud-din Jabbar, 42, who flew the ISIS flag when he slaughtered 14 people and injured dozens with a rented truck.
The body of Matthew Livelsberger, 37, was burned beyond recognition after he apparently blew up a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump hotel in Las Vegas
Police found credit cards, his passport and military ID on him, but they are still calling him a person of interest as they wait for DNA confirmation
Both served at the same military base in North Carolina, but officials don’t know if their paths ever crossed. In addition, both also served in Afghanistan in 2009, but officials say they have seen no evidence they were in the same facility or unit. That is still being investigated.
The FBI said Thursday they believe Jabbar acted alone, reversing a view from a day earlier that he was likely working with others.
Chris Raia, deputy assistant director of the FBI, said Thursday that officials have found “no definitive link” between the attack in New Orleans and the truck explosion in Las Vegas.
Livelsberger served in the Green Berets, highly trained special forces that work to counter terrorism abroad and train partners, the military said in a statement.
Seven people in the area were slightly injured on Wednesday when the Tesla truck exploded.
Video showed a flood of charred fireworks mortars, canisters and other explosives stuffed into the back of the pickup. The walls of the truck bed were still intact because the explosion shot straight up instead of to the sides.
Livelsberger served in the Green Berets, highly trained special forces that work to counter terrorism abroad and train partners, the military said in a statement
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on X on Wednesday afternoon that “we have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck and is not related to the vehicle itself.”
“All vehicle telemetry was positive at the time of the explosion,” Musk wrote.