Notes found on the phone of a Green Beret and Colorado Springs resident who died by suicide after blowing up a Tesla Cybertruck on New Year’s Day outside President-elect Donald Trump’s hotel in Las Vegas suggest his actions were intended as a “wake-up call” to America.

Details of the possible motivations of 37-year-old Master Sgt. Matthew Alan Livelsberger emerged on Friday afternoon, when the Las Vegas Metro Police Department released more information about the attack.

“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?” read a message that authorities say were found on the active-duty military member’s phone.

“Why did I personally do it now? I needed to cleanse my mind of the brothers I’ve lost and relieve myself of the burden of the lives I took,” read an excerpt of the notes found on Livelsberger’s phone, according to Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.  

In a second excerpt shared with media Livelsberger described the United States as “terminally ill and headed toward collapse.”

Hours after the press conference, the Las Vegas Metro Police Department released the full notes found on Livelsberger’s charred phone. 

The Las Vegas police and FBI had found a message titled “WAKE UP” in the notes application on Livelsberger’s charred phone. The message called on called on Americans and veterans to stage a revolution. Investigators verified the notes had come from Livelsberger. 

“Military and vets move on DC starting now,” he wrote.

“Militias facilitate and augment this activity,” he said.

In his call-to-arms, he wrote, “Occupy every major road along fed buildings and the campus of fed buildings by the hundreds of thousands. Lock the highways around down with semis right after everybody gets in. Hold until the purge is complete.”

The Green Beret sounded a rallying cry to be prepared to fight to throw “Dems” out of political office and out of the military “by any means necessary.” 

In a nod to Trump, he said that there is too much attention paid to Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity.

“Thankfully we rejected the DEI candidate and will have a real President instead of Weekend at Bernie’s,” one line from the note on Livelsberger’s phone read. 

Finally, he begged for people to rally around Donald Trump, Elon Musk and Robert Kennedy to save the country from what he called “feckless leadership.” 

He was adamant that the country would collapse if this doesn’t happen. The message was signed: MSG Matt Livelsberger 18Z, 10th Special Forces Group.

Officials on Friday added that there is no evidence of additional suspects in this case; nor any evidence that Livelsberger was working in coordination with Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the man accused of killing at least 14 people in New Orleans just hours before the explosion in Las Vegas.  

At the news conference Spencer Evans, the FBI special agent in charge, stated that it’s “likely” Livelsberger suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and that there were family and personal matters that “may have been contributing factors.” 

A psychiatrist familiar with Special Forces treatment said mental health services for those units include an embedded behavioral health team and funding for residential treatment outside of the military. 

The challenge is getting Special Forces soldiers to come forward, he said. 

The screening tools used during the deployment cycle are also flawed because they were developed for people seeking help. 

“We apply these screening tools to presumably healthy young men, hoping that if they’re having problems they’ll be honest in the way that they answer the questions, but they’re not always honest,” he said.

According to ABC, Livelsberger was kicked out of the home by his wife around Christmas over “allegations of infidelity.”

An ex-girlfriend of Livelsberger spoke with The Gazette on Thursday and claimed that he suffered a traumatic brain injury in 2019 during a tour in the Middle East. Alicia Arritt, Livelsberger’s ex-girlfriend, said she believes that the depressive symptoms he showed went untreated because “it’s not acceptable to seek treatment when someone is in Special Forces.”

MAP: Known locations, route of Matthew Livelsberger leading up to Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas

Before the Las Vegas trip

Days ahead of his suicide, Livelsberger contacted Sam Shoemate, a former Army intelligence officer, who has a large social media following, insisting he had important information that needed to reach the media and the potential new Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth.

Shoemate said on a podcast hosted by Shawn Ryan, a former Navy Seal, that he hesitated to do anything with the email because he couldn’t verify it. Shoemate decided to make it public after the explosion.

Livelsberger’s email raised an alarm about the national security risk posed by Chinese unmanned aircraft that use “gravitic propulsion systems,” a form of propulsion in the experimental stages.

He called the aircraft “the most dangerous threat to national security that has ever existed.”

In a text message to an ex-girlfriend on Dec. 29 that he wrote while driving the Cybertruck to Las Vegas, he told her “I’m building drones in. my new position. You would love it.”

He refers to the Chinese aircraft as balloons.

A Scottish professor had run a successful experiment in 2020, propelling a balloon by gravity using an onboard compressor to change the pressure inside the balloon, Aerospace America reported.

In the email, Livelsberger went on to claim he was being followed by Homeland Security or the FBI.

Evans stated that the FBI did not have information on Livelsberger prior to the explosion.

Livelsberger said that he was part of an airstrike in the Nimruz province of Afghanistan in 2019 that killed hundreds. In the email Livelsberger claimed the airstrike was a “war crime” and that government agencies attempted to cover it up. He went on to describe involvement in attacks on 65 buildings in Afghanistan in 2019 that he helped target. The attacks killed hundreds of civilians, he said.

A United Nations report on American attacks in 2019 in Afghanistan said UN workers received reports of 40 to 200 civilian deaths during airstrikes on drug labs. The report said 68 labs were hit. UN workers verified 39 civilian casualties and credible information to substantiate the deaths of 30 children and two women, the report said.

The U.S. said it targeted labs controlled and operated exclusively by the Taliban. 

In 2019, the 10th Special Forces Group lost four soldiers in Afghanistan, according to previous Gazette reporting. 

At Friday’s news conference Evans said there is “strong evidence” to suggest that the email posted by Ryan on social media was sent by Livelsberger, but that he could not confirm nor verify it. 

The U.S. Department of the Army did not immediately respond to a Friday request for comment on Livelsberger’s email and the security risk he described. 

Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh did not have information Friday to share about whether Livelsberger showed warning signs, and referred reporters to investigators.

Livelsberger email

Although answers about Livelsberger’s motives began to take form at Friday’s news conference, many questions still remain. 

Las Vegas Metro Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill stated that it was still unclear why Livelsberger chose to conduct the suicide and explosion at the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas. Confusion about the choice of location lingered — especially since Evans stated during the news conference that it’s believed Livelsberger had “no animosity towards the president-elect.” 

McMahill stated that the notes recovered from Livelsberger’s phone included other possible locations, including the Grand Canyon. 

Livelsberger was on approved leave from the 10th Special Forces Group at Fort Carson when the electric truck he rented in Denver on Dec. 28 exploded in the valet drive-through of the Trump International Hotel on New Year’s Day, McMahill said at Thursday’s news conference.

Seven people were injured in the explosion but only Livelsberger was killed. 

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