Cybertruck bomber Matthew Livelsberger claims China is stalking the US with advanced drones launched from submarines in an unhinged suicide email.
Two other notes recorded on his phone and recovered by police made clear his motive was not terrorism or violence, just to draw attention to his manifesto.
The former Green Beret and still active soldier shot himself in the head seconds before an improvised explosive detonated in the back of his rented truck.
Explosive blast injured seven bystanders when it went off outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday.
The suicide note someone claiming to be him sent to retired US Army intelligence officer Sam Shoemate shortly before the bombing.
The email claimed the mysterious drones seen flying over New Jersey and sometimes other parts of the east coast were Chinese weapons.
It warned they could be well armed, attack anywhere, and were ‘most dangerous threat to national security that has ever existed’.
Investigators probed if the bombing was connected to the terrorist attack in New Orleans, or if it was motivated by Livelsberger’s personal issues.
Cybertruck bomber Matthew Livelsberger claims China is stalking the US with advanced drones in an unhinged suicide note
Explosive blast killed one person and injured half a dozen more when it went off outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday
The FBI said in a press conference on Friday afternoon that he acted alone and his behavior was fueled by PTSD and various personal grievances.
‘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 is struggling with PTSD and other issues,’ Spencer Evans, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Las Vegas division, said.
Las Vegas police also shared excerpts from two other writings, recorded in the notes app on his phone, that indicated the bombing was to get attention for his concerns.
‘We (the US) are terminally ill and headed towards collapse. This was not a terrorist attack, it was a wakeup call,’ the letter read.
‘Americans only pay attention to spectacles and violence – what better way to get my point across than a stunt with fireworks and explosives.
‘Why did I personally do it now? I need to cleanse my mind, the brothers I’ve lost, and relieve myself of the burden of the lives that I took.’
Las Vegas Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren said another letter listed ‘a variety of other grievances and issues, some political, some personal, a variety of other things which we will do our best to release very quickly’.
Part of it told veterans and Americans it was ‘time to wake up, we are are being led by weak and feckless leadership who only serve to enrich themselves’.
Livelsberger, a former Green Beret and active US Army Ranger, shot himself in the head seconds before an improvised explosive detonated in the back of his rented truck
Photos shared of Livelsberger from his days in the military
A photo of Livelsberger in camouflage gear and a drone, which was the area he was working in when he died
The email sent to Shoemate, claiming to be from Livelsberger, made even more fanciful claims and portents of doom.
‘What we have been seeing with ‘drones’ is the operational use of gravatic (sic) propulsion systems powered aircraft by most recently China in the east coast, but throughout history, the US. Only we and China have this capacity,’ the email read.
‘China has been launching them from the Atlantic from submarines for years, but this activity recently has picked up.
‘As of now, it is just a show of force and they are using it similar to how they used the balloon for sigint (signals intelligence) and isr (Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance), which are also part of the integrated comms system.
‘There are dozens of those balloons in the air at any given time.
‘The so what is because of the speed and stealth of these unmanned AC, they are the most dangerous threat to national security that has ever existed.
‘They basically have unlimited payload capacity and can park it over the [White House] if they wanted. It’s checkmate.
‘USG needs to give the history of this, how we are employing it and weaponizing it, how China is employing them and what the way forward is.
‘China is poised to attack anywhere in the east coast.’
The email claimed the mysterious drones seen flying over New Jersey and sometimes other parts of the east coast were Chinese weapons
The email supposedly from Livelsberger also claimed he was being ‘followed’ by authorities because he helped cover up ‘war crimes’ in Afghanistan.
‘I’ve been followed for over a week now from likely homeland or FBI, and they are looking to move on me and are unlikely going to let me cross into Mexico, but won’t because they know I am armed and I have a massive VBIED,’ it claimed.
VBIED stands for vehicle-borne improvised explosive device – which is what detonated at the front of the hotel.
‘I’ve been trying to maintain a very visible profile and have kept my phone and they are definitely digitally tracking me,’ the email continued.
‘I have knowledge of this program and also war crimes that were covered up during airstrikes in Nimruz province Afghanistan in 2019 by the admin, DoD, DEA and CIA.
‘I conducted targeting for these strikes of over 125 buildings (65 were struck because of CIVCAS [civilian casualty]) that killed hundreds of civilians in a single day.
‘USFORA (the command that conducted airstrike in Afghanistan) continued strikes after spotting civilians on initial ISR, it was supposed to take 6 minutes and scramble all aircraft in CENTCOM.
‘The UN basically called these war crimes, but the administration made them disappear. I was part of that cover-up with USFORA and Agent [Redacted] of the DEA. So I don’t know if my abduction attempt is related to either.
Livelsberger with his squad during what appeared to be military training
‘I worked with GEN Millers 10 staff on this as well as the response to Bala Murghab. AOB-S Commander at the time. [Redacted] can validate this.’
The email’s account of the mission correlates with a 2019 UN report criticizing the airstrikes as unlawful.
The report said a UN investigation verified 39 civilian casualties including 14 children and one woman at more than 60 sites that the US claimed were drug production facilities.
The UN was also working to verify another 32 civilian casualties in the May 5, 2019, strikes, the majority of which were women and children.
The email concluded: ‘You need to elevate this to the media so we avoid a world war because this is a mutually assured destruction situation.’
Shoemate said he received the email on December 31 and turned it over to the FBI, but later chose to release it on his friend Shawn Ryan’s podcast on Friday.
Ryan, a former US Navy Seal in 1994 to 2016 and CIA contractor, is now an author and runs a podcast similar in style to Joe Rogan.
‘I knew taking this public would insert me into the ‘glowy boi’ conspiracy cycle, especially since I’m an intelligence officer,’ Shoemate wrote on Twitter.
‘I had no choice. Dude dumped it in my inbox. When I saw his name in the news, I had little choice but to hand it over to the feds.
‘I knew the FBI wouldn’t release it, or at least without an agenda attached, so I took it to Shawn Ryan because he has the platform to handle the magnitude of this information and will do so as objectively as possible.’
Shoemate said he received the email on December 31 and turned it over to the FBI, but later chose to release it on his friend Shawn Ryan’s (pictured) podcast on Friday
The contents of the Cybertruck’s tray, where the bomb was stored and detonated
Surveillance footage of Livelsberger driving the Cybertruck in Las Vegas
The email tried to verify that it came from Livelsberger himself by including details about his life only he would know.
They included his first car being a 2006 Black Ford Mustang V6 and ‘I have an active TSSCI with UAP USAP access’. Shoemate was not sure what that meant.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Kevin McMahill said police were aware of the email for some time, but had not yet verified its authenticity.
‘We still have not completely gone all the way through that and verified that entirely,’ he said.
‘While I understand all of that is out there, I believe it is our responsibility to give you what we know to be a fact, and that is what I will continue to do.’
McMahill said Livelsberger was a highly decorated soldier who served five tours of combat and was suffering from PTSD.
‘They’re exposed to things, they see things, they hear things, they feel things, and they smell things that most normal people don’t have to do,’ he said.
‘And the heroes that are serving in the military and on the front lines of America’s policing are challenged that way.’
Livelsberger with his ex-wife Sara. The couple divorced in 2018
A damaged US Government identification of Matthew Livelsberger found in the wreckage
Livelsberger was awarded a Bronze Star Medal with Valor, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal with Valor and three Army Commendation Medals
Livelsberger was a master sergeant attached to Special Operations Command and on leave from the military at the time of his death.
He was awarded a Bronze Star Medal with Valor, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal with Valor and three Army Commendation Medals.
Livelsberger left his home in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on December 30 and arrived in Las Vegas about an hour before the bomb exploded.
He rented the Cybertruck from its owner in Denver through the Turo car-sharing platform – the same website used by the New Orleans terrorist.
The FBI said he acted alone and there was no link to the attack on Bourbon Street that killed 14 people celebrating New Year’s Eve at 3.15am on Wednesday.
‘We know we have a bombing, absolutely, and it’s a bombing that certainly has factors that raise concern,’ Evans said.
‘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 or any of the reasoning behind it.’
The route Livelsberger took from where he rented the Cybertruck in Denver, and stops along the way to Las Vegas
Local police also showed video of Livelsberger at charging stations and other stops on his route from Denver to Las Vegas.
They said one of the phone notes was called ‘surveillance logs’ and was ‘more of a journal’ that covered his activities in the 10 days before before the bombing.
Police said the ‘journal’ matched with CCTV and reports of his activities on the route to Las Vegas, including buying guns and camping equipment.
They also revealed the exact way Livelsberger took his own life seconds before the blast, as determined by the medical examiner.
They said he put a pistol in his mouth and fired, with the bullet exiting out the left side of his head, killing him instantly.
Special Agent Evans reiterated that there was no connection between Livelsberger’s bombing and the New Orleans terrorist attack.
He said there was no communication of any kind between Livelsberger and the ISIS terrorist Shamsud Din Jabbar, and any similarities were coincidental.
A gun damaged by the blast and resulting fire that Livelsberger bought on the way
Investigators comb through the Cybertruck wreck and debris surrounding it
Pieces of the Cybertruck and its contents extracted from the wreck
They included Jabbar and Livelsberger both being military veterans, and renting their cars through Turo and using Airbnb.
‘We’ve identified no telephonic or email communication between the subjects. No information that suggests that they knew each other,’ he said.
‘That they ever served in the same unit, that they were ever assigned at the same place at the same time and had interaction, and no witness interviews have cooborated or provided any information that the two events are connected in any way.
‘We have not identified any connection between this subject, and any terrorist organization.’
Evans said Livelsberger, whose family and friends repeatedly said he was a huge fan of Donald Trump, held ‘no animosity towards the president-elect’.
‘He likely suffered from PTSD and we are aware that there were potential other family issues or personal grievances in his own life that may have been contributing factors,’ he said.