The Green Berets who drove a Tesla Cybertruck loaded with explosives to Las Vegas and detonated the payload at the Trump International Hotel said the scene was meant to be a “wake-up call” to the United States and that it was a terrorist attack. He left a suicide note stating that he did not intend to commit the act. According to authorities.
“This was not a terrorist attack,” wrote Matthew Libersberger, who police said shot himself before Wednesday’s explosion. “It was a wake-up call. Americans only pay attention to spectacle and violence. What better way to get your point across than with stunts using fireworks and explosives?”
At a press conference Friday in Las Vegas, local and federal law enforcement officials said they had received a slew of memos and letters suggesting the former Army sergeant major and Afghanistan war veteran was motivated in part by his combat experience and views on political events. Some of them have been published. Currently being developed in America.
“Why did I personally do it now? I needed to remember my brothers who died and be freed from the burden of the lives I had taken,” the 37-year-old wrote.
Suicide prevention and crisis counseling resources
If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, seek professional help by calling 9-8-8. The nation’s first national three-digit mental health crisis hotline, 988, connects callers with trained mental health counselors. In the United States and Canada, you can reach the Crisis Message Line by texting “HOME” to 741741.
Authorities have not released the soldier’s full statement recovered from a cellphone found inside the destroyed vehicle.
“These are just excerpts,” said Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Undersheriff Dori Collen.
“He provides a variety of additional information, including political grievances, issues related to conflicts not here but elsewhere, domestic issues, social issues…including personal challenges,” Koren said. Ta.
The New Year’s Day explosion occurred hours after a terrorist attack in New Orleans. In the attack, a military veteran drove another truck through a busy street, killing 14 people and injuring about 30 others.
Authorities initially suspected the two events were linked, as both attacks appeared to be ideologically motivated. Investigators later determined that the New Orleans attacker acted alone.
Other excerpts from his writings released Friday included passages in which Mr. Libersberger expressed dissatisfaction with the direction of the country.
“Fellow service members, veterans, and all Americans. It’s time to wake up! We are being led by weak and reckless leadership whose sole purpose is to enrich itself.”
He also wrote that the United States is “the greatest country that ever existed!” But now we are terminally ill and heading for collapse. ”
Libersberger served as a Green Beret sergeant major in the Army. He spent most of his time at Ft. Authorities said Carson was in Colorado and Germany. He was on approved leave from Germany at the time of his death.
On his Facebook profile, Libersberger previously criticized the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in 2021, calling it “the biggest foreign policy failure in American history.”
Times staff writers Summer Lin, Hannah Fry, Richard Winton and Terry Castleman contributed to this report.
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