The stunned family of suspected Las Vegas Cybertruck bomber Matthew Livelsberger say the Army veteran was a ‘big Trump supporter’ who loved his time in the military.
It comes as more details are revealed about Livelsberger, a long serving married Green Beret who was on leave from active duty when he carried out the attack outside Donald Trump’s Las Vegas hotel.
His uncle Dean Livelsberger told The Independent that his nephew was ‘100 percent a patriot’, and described him as a ‘Rambo-type.’
‘He used to have all patriotic stuff on Facebook, he was 100 percent loving the country,’ he continued.
‘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.’
He added that the amateurish construction of the explosive device in the Cybertruck was curious to him, as he knew Matthew to be a ‘very skilled warrior’ who ‘would’ve been able to make a more sophisticated explosive.’
‘He was what you might call a ‘supersoldier.’ If you ever read about the things he was awarded, and the experience he had, some of it doesn’t make sense, when he had the skills and ability to make something more, let’s say, ‘efficient,” Dean said.
‘His skills were enormous from what he had been taught in the military.’
Livelsberger, 37, was identified by law enforcement sources as the bomber in Wednesday’s attack, which left seven wounded. The electric vehicle exploded about 15 seconds after the driver pulled up in front of the hotel’s entrance.
The blast was caused by ‘a bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck’ or ‘very large fireworks’, according to Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
Livelsberger died in the bombing. He lived in Colorado Springs and was an active member of the Army. He previously received a Meritorious Honor Award for work benefiting the US Embassy in Tajikistan.
Liveslberger was profiled by a local newspaper in Ohio for his work with the military in Afghanistan.
He grew up in Ohio and was married to social worker Sara Livelsberger, who in the lead up to the 2016 election shared a slew of Facebook posts spouting anti-Trump rhetoric.
According to CBS News, Liveslberger was on break from duty in Germany when he carried out the attack. His wife hadn’t heard from him from several days.
Property records reveal the couple purchased a home in Colorado Springs together in 2015.
However, police have linked Livelsberger to several addresses throughout the city – including a different townhouse that was raided by the FBI overnight.
Livelsberger is suspected of renting the Cybertruck in Colorado Springs and driving it across the border to Nevada on Wednesday morning to carry out his attack.
Law enforcement sources have also revealed that Livelsberger previously served at the same military base as New Orleans terrorist Shamsud Din Jabbar, who on Wednesday drove a rented Tesla truck into a crowd of New Year revelers, killing at least 15 people and wounding dozens. Police have not confirmed if the pair were known to each other.
Jabbar served at Fort Liberty in North Carolina, previously known as Fort Bragg. Livelsberger previously lived at an address close to the base, but investigators have yet to confirm the location of the base the pair have in common.
Livelsberger has served in the Army for 19 years, the majority of which was spent in the Special Forces unit.
The suspected terrorist seemingly climbed the ranks throughout his time with the unit, having started off working as a SF Communications Specialist in 2006.
While holding that position, Livelsberger said on his Linkedin that he also worked on a nearly one-year contract with General Dynamics Corp, a firm specializing in aerospace and defense.
He alleges he ‘engineered and fielded the first mobile standoff hyperspectral imaging “Lightguard Minotaur” system’ during his time at General Dynamics Corp.
General Dynamics told DailyMail.com they have no record of employing Livelsberger.
Livelsberger in 2015 moved into an intelligence and operations role within the SF and in 2016 received the Department of State Meritorious Honor Award.
He was recognized by the US Ambassador for ‘interagency contributions that resulted in increased interoperability and efficiency while serving as the Operations Sergeant at Special Operations Command Forward- Central Asian States (SOCFWD-CAS) within US Embassy Dushanbe’, Livelsberger wrote on LinkedIn.
He became a SF operations manager and team sergeant in February 2023 and moved into his remote and autonomous systems role in November last year.
His LinkedIn profile also touts proficiency in French and certifications in unmanned aircraft systems, as well as a Project Director qualification.
Livelsberger has limited social media presence, but his wife Sara was very active on Facebook in 2015 and 2016.
She is an anti-Trumper with very different politics to her late husband.
Sara, who according to her profile studied political science and social work, revealed that she was a ‘registered Democrat’ in a post shared in May 2016.
Sharing a photo of a sign featuring a cartoon image of Trump that read ‘stop bigotry’, Sara wrote that she ‘can’t wait to slap this baby on my truck’.
She also shared a screenshot of a tweet posted by Trump in 2015, writing that he ‘needs to spend less time on Twitter posting and deleting tweets, and more time focusing on maybe…a god d**m platform of some sort?’
Another post showed her wearing a t-shirt that said ‘Girls just want to have FUN-damental Rights’, suggesting she takes a pro-choice stance on abortion.
Sara, whose hometown is listed as Playa del Carmen, Mexico, has not posted on Facebook since May 2016.
She also has not been tied to the Las Vegas bombing.
The Tesla cybertruck arrived in Las Vegas at 7.30am Wednesday, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Kevin McMahill said in a press conference.
The explosion took place at 8.40am in the hotel’s valet area. Surveillance footage showed the truck sitting outside the front entrance. Seconds later, the entire $80,000 car blew up in a fiery blaze – with its roof going up in flames first.
Debris smoked as it pinged off the pavement and sparks which looked like fireworks could be seen lighting up the black cloud of smoke emitting from the vehicle.
A tumble of charred fireworks mortars, cannisters and other explosive devices were found crowded into the back of the pickup.
Officials are still exploring how the explosives were detonated, but sources with knowledge of the investigation have expressed that it was likely controlled by the driver.
Livelsberger was the sole fatality in the attack, and authorities largely credit Musk’s hulking stainless steel truck with preventing further damage because it was able to contain much of the explosion.
None of the nearby windows of the hotel were damaged despite the violence of the blast.
According to the KOAA, law enforcement officers wearing tactical gear and travelling in armored vehicles arrived at one of Livelsberger’s Colorado Springs properties Wednesday night.
Neighbors were ‘escorted away’ from the townhome complex in the Stetson Hills neighborhood as investigators carried out their search. Police have assured the public they do not suspect there is any ongoing threat to the community.
Hours before the attack in Las Vegas, Shamsud Din Jabbar drove an electric vehicle into crowds in New Orleans, killing 15 pedestrians and injuring dozens more.
Law enforcement sources have since revealed the cars used in both attacks were rented through Turo, and they were both EVs, prompting concerns they are linked.
Turo is akin to Airbnb for cars and lets people hire strangers’ vehicles for a daily rate.
Police revealed on Wednesday afternoon that they are currently investigating potential links and have not ruled anything out yet.
‘Do I think it’s a coincidence? I don’t know,’ Sheriff Kevin McMahill said. ‘We’re absolutely looking into any connections to New Orleans.’
A spokesperson for Turo later issued a statement describing the company’s heartbreak ‘by the violence perpetrated in New Orleans and Las Vegas, and our prayers are with the victims and families.
‘We are actively partnering with law enforcement authorities as they investigate both incidents.
‘We do not believe that either renter involved in the Las Vegas and New Orleans attacks had a criminal background that would have identified them as a security threat.’
Turo added: ‘We remain committed to maintaining the highest standards in risk management, thanks to our world-class trust and safety technologies and teams that include experienced former law enforcement professionals.’
Officers have also considered that Livelsberger may have purposefully chosen to use a car owned by Elon Musk to send a message – given the Tesla billionaire’s newfound friendship with President-elect Donald Trump.
‘It’s a Tesla truck, we know Elon Musk is working with President-elect Trump and it’s the Trump hotel, so there’s obviously something to look at,’ McMahill said.
By Wednesday afternoon, Musk revealed the explosion was caused by ‘a bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck’ or ‘very large fireworks.’
He said the explosion was not caused by or related to the vehicle itself, and it’s understood the unnamed driver had rented the truck using Turo.
‘Law enforcement currently believes it was most likely intentional,’ he added.
‘Both this Cybertruck and the F-150 suicide bomb in New Orleans were rented from Turo. Perhaps they are linked in some way.’
Musk said ‘Tesla vehicles transmit their state of health continuously,’ meaning his team were able to check whether anything was wrong with the car’s mechanics prior to the explosion.
McMahill thanked Musk for his efforts in assisting the investigation, turning over data to authorities along with access to CCTV from Tesla charging stations across the nation.
Trump has also broken his silence on the explosion outside his Las Vegas hotel, vowing to rid America of ‘violent scum.’ The president-elect took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to excoriate the security and justice establishment.
He wrote in a post: ‘Our Country is a disaster, a laughing stock all over the World! This is what happens when you have OPEN BORDERS, with weak, ineffective, and virtually nonexistent leadership.
‘The DOJ, FBI, and Democrat state and local prosecutors have not done their job. They are incompetent and corrupt, having spent all of their waking hours unlawfully attacking their political opponent, ME, rather than focusing on protecting Americans from the outside and inside violent SCUM that has infiltrated all aspects of our government, and our Nation itself.
‘Democrats should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this to happen to our Country. The CIA must get involved, NOW, before it is too late. The USA is breaking down – A violent erosion of Safety, National Security, and Democracy is taking place all across our Nation.
‘Only strength and powerful leadership will stop it. See you on January 20th. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!’
The FBI has said officials ‘do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible’ for the New Orleans attack.
‘We’re aggressively running down every lead, including those of his known associates,’ Alethea Duncan, an assistant special agent with the FBI’s New Orleans field office, said in at a news conference Wednesday.’
Law enforcement officials in Texas searched a residence in Houston on Wednesday that they believe could be connected to Jabbar.
‘FBI Houston and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office are continuing a court-authorized search of a location near the intersection of Hugh Road and Crescent Peak Drive,’ the agency said in a statement.
As of Wednesday night, no arrests had been made at the residence.
Authorities previously revealed that the rented truck was listed on Turo by a 42-year-old man who lives in Houston, who has been contacted by investigators. It is unclear if the Houston property that was searched Wednesday night was linked to this man.
The FBI’s New Orleans field office is also ‘conducting a number of court authorized search warrants in New Orleans and other states’.
Jabbar was killed by police after he slammed a truck into pedestrians celebrating the New Year, exited the vehicle, and started firing.
Investigators recovered a handgun and an AR-style rifle after the shootout, law enforcement officials said.
Investigators are probing a theory Jabbar rented a nearby property on Airbnb in St. Roch for his base before carrying out the attack.
Exclusive DailyMail.com photographs show the moment the FBI removed bomb making materials from the two-bedroom and two-bathroom property close to the French Quarter.
Jabbar is also said to have made a series of videos that are being reviewed by law enforcement. Authorities believe that the videos were made as he drove from Texas to Louisiana, although the timing is unclear.
Multiple officials told CNN that the recordings appear to have been made while driving at night and the suspect is not visible in them.
CNN reported that the recordings make reference to his divorce and that he planned on gathering his family together for a fake celebration so he could kill them.
The suspect is also said to have talked about how he joined ISIS, and spoke of dreams that he had about joining the terrorist group.
There were no overt links to ISIS in the Las Vegas attack as there were in New Orleans, but detectives have not ruled out any motive.