The decorated Green Beret who died by suicide in a Tesla Cybertruck explosion on New Year’s Day in Las Vegas had confided to a former girlfriend about his struggles with pain and exhaustion after serving in Afghanistan.Matthew Livelsberger, 37, had an excellent military job, earning five Bronze Celebrities, including one for courage under fireplace. However, his service left him grappling with the mental and physical toll of combat.
Livelsberger’s former girlfriend, Alicia Arritt, a former Army nurse, said he exhibited symptoms consistent with traumatic brain injury ( TBI ), a condition often linked to combat exposure. In emails shared with Arritt, he spoke of injuries, serious problems, and terrible night haunted by recollections of his implementation in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. He told her during the first few months of their relationship that “my life has been a private heaven for the last year.”
Arritt recalled Livelsberger as a person of strong dignity, already burdened by his views. He shared a photo of a tattoo of heads pierced by guns, which he had taken as a souvenir of bloody omens during his service and how he remembered reliving them. Despite these difficulties, he resisted seeking assistance because it might interfere with his ability to build, a worry that was made worse by the shame in his Special Forces unit.
According to prosecutors, Livelsberger purposefully set up the blast close to the Trump International Hotel to raise awareness of social issues. In information found on his mobile, he described the work as a “wake-up contact” and a means to” wipe the spirits” from his past. He also criticised what he saw as America’s rely on sight and violence, composing,” What better way to get my place across than a prank with lights and explosives”?
Seven people were hurt in the blast, but none were killed. Authorities confirmed that Livelsberger acted only and that it was not an act of terrorism. His papers, which made reference to societal and political problems, such as the conflict in Ukraine, urged Americans to stand up for characters like Elon Musk and Donald Trump. Officers made it clear Livelsberger had no animosity for Trump, who wasn’t in Las Vegas at the time.
Sabrina Singh, a spokesman for the Pentagon, advised soldiers who were struggling with mental health to make use of the available support systems.
