Before detonating a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel on New Year’s Day, Matthew Livelsberger left a suicide note, which is now in the hands of former Navy SEAL and CIA contractor Shawn Ryan, according to two law enforcement sources.
Ryan, who hosts the “Suicide Note” podcast, which discusses the challenges faced by military personnel, received the note before the explosion.
A former girlfriend of the deceased, a decorated Special Forces soldier, claimed her then-partner told her she was experiencing significant pain and exhaustion as a result of a traumatic brain injury.
The note is currently being reviewed by the FBI. Investigators are collaborating with Ryan to determine the contents. However, authorities revealed on Friday that the deceased wrote that the bombing was intended to serve as a “wakeup call” to the country’s ills.
The 37-year-old from Colorado Springs, Colorado, also stated in the note that he needed to “cleanse my mind” of the lives lost by people he knew, as well as “the burden of the lives I took.”
“This was not a terrorist attack; it was a wake-up call.” Americans only care about spectacles and violence. “What better way to get my point across than a stunt with fireworks and explosives?” Livelsberger wrote in a letter discovered by authorities, which was only partially released.
Ryan explained in a post on X that guest Sam Shoemate claimed to have received a troubling email from Livelsberger reading “”What I’m going to send you is going to change the course of humanity,” prior to the bombing, which was initially suspected to be a terrorist attack.
“In case I do not make it to my decision point or the Mexican border, I am sending this now. “Please do not release this until January 1st and keep my identity private until then,” Livelsberger wrote, according to Shoemate.
The email goes on to discuss China’s use of drones, which he claims are launched from submarines. He claimed that Chinese officials used the aircrafts for spying, similar to the “spy balloons” that have been spotted in recent years.
The letter appears to reflect Livelsberger’s deteriorating mental state, as he claims to be on the run from Homeland Security.
“You need to elevate this to the media so we avoid a world war because this is a mutually assured destruction situation,” the recipient’s email stated.
Livelsberger appeared to have no animosity toward President-elect Donald Trump, according to Clark County sheriff officials.
“Although this incident is more public and sensational than usual, it ultimately appears to be a tragic case of suicide involving a heavily decorated combat veteran who was struggling with PTSD and other issues,” FBI Special Agent In Charge Spencer Evans said at a news conference.
The bomber’s girlfriend, 39-year-old Alicia Arritt, who began dating him in 2018, said she received distressing images and texts from Livelsberger prior to the incident.
Apparently, his trauma and severe pain kept him awake at night, forcing him to relive horrifying memories from his deployment in Afghanistan.
“My life has been a personal hell for the last year,” he told Arritt during the early stages of their relationship, according to text messages she provided to the AP. “It’s refreshing to have such a nice person come along.”
Arritt also served as a nurse in the Army from 2003 to 2007, when she was assigned to the military’s large medical facility in Germany.
She helped treat numerous soldiers who had suffered blast injuries and traumatic brain injuries during the fierce ground fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq.
She claims the military did nothing to help her former partner deal with his PTSD. Arritt stated that she observed Livelsberger suffering from symptoms as early as 2018.
“He would go through periods of withdrawal, and he struggled with depression and memory loss,” Arritt told me. “He described it as a blast injury. He suffered multiple concussions as a result of that.”
