A Green Beret who drove an explosives-laden Tesla Cybertruck to Las Vegas and detonated its payload at Trump International Hotel left a suicide note saying the spectacle was intended as a “wake up call” for America and was not intended as an act of terrorism, according to authorities.

“This was not a terrorist attack,” wrote Matthew Livelsberger, who police say fatally shot himself before Wednesday’s explosion. “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?”

At a Friday news conference in Las Vegas, local and federal law enforcement officials released portions of a notes and letters that suggested the former Army master sergeant and Afghanistan war veteran was partly motivated by his experiences in combat, as well as his view of political events unfolding in the United States.

“Why did I personally do it 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,” the 37-year-old wrote.

Authorities have not released the soldier’s complete writings recovered on a cellphone found inside the destroyed vehicle.

“These are just excerpts,” Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren said.

“He does offer additional information that is varying on the spectrum in terms of political grievances, issues about conflicts elsewhere — not here — domestic issues, societal issues … including personal challenges as well,” Koren said.

The New Year’s Day blast came hours after a terrorist attack in New Orleans, where an Army veteran drove another truck through a crowded street, killing 14 and injuring about 30 others.

Given that both attacks appeared to be ideologically motivated, authorities wondered initially whether the two events might be connected. Investigators have since determined that the New Orleans attacker acted alone.

Among other writing excerpts released Friday were passages in which Livelsberger expressed frustration with the nation’s direction.

“Fellow servicemembers, veterans and all Americans. TIME TO WAKE UP! We are being led by weak and feckless leadership who only serve to enrich themselves”

He also wrote that also that the United States was the best country “to ever exist! But right now we are terminally ill and headed toward collapse.”

Livelsberger served as a Green Beret master sergeant in the Army. He spent the majority of his time at Ft. Carson in Colorado and in Germany, according to authorities. He was on approved leave from Germany at the time of his death.

On his Facebook profile, Livelsberger once criticized the withdrawal of U.S. armed forces from Afghanistan in 2021. He called it the “biggest foreign-policy failure in the history of the United States.”

Times staff writers Summer Lin, Hannah Fry, Richard Winton and Terry Castleman contributed to this report.

“It does not hinder policing, but the admin part is clogging up the works.”53 The most
frequently noted hindrance, particularly by law enforcement respondents, is the
amount of paperwork created for sergeants by the consent decree, which has a direct
result of keeping them off the streets.
“We are seeing blatant discretionary policing, where a cop can just walk by a
violator because they don’t feel like filling out the paperwork, so the violator feels
above the law, compounding propensity to commit crimes.”54
Surprisingly, it was NOPD respondents who said that the consent decree is not the
burdensome yoke others perceive it to be. While it may have been a difficult
adjustment for veteran NOPD officers, they said, new officers who have only known
policing under the consent decree do not feel tethered by it, as they have no other
comparison.
F.
Risk of Terrorism & Critical Security Incidents
The risk of terrorism – specifically mass shootings and vehicular attacks – remains highly
possible while moderately probable.
The two modes of terror attack most likely to be used are vehicular ramming and active
shooting. Both international and domestic terrorists have turned to these methods as a
cheap low-tech alternative to complex bomb plots, particularly in the case of lone wolf
attacks. Considering that the most high-profile target in New Orleans – Bourbon Street
– is an open air thoroughfare with little to no access control reinforces the rationale for
these two methods.
Aside from serving as a general deterrent, the larger police presence that Interfor and
nearly all stakeholders are advocating would ensure a quicker armed response to an
active shooter. To illustrate the fact, one need look no further than the August 4, 2019
active shooter attack in Dayton, Ohio. In this tragic act of terror, nine people were killed
and an additional seventeen were shot within thirty-two seconds of when the gunman
opened fire, at which point he was neutralized by the substantial police force in the
nearby vicinity. Sadly, the carnage would likely be far worse in the area of Bourbon
Street, where no evidence of a substantial quick reaction force ready to face a similar
threat was observed.
Increased visibility and a larger show of force also raise the chances to disrupt potential
terror attacks during the planning phase. Historically, the majority of intended attacks
which have been thwarted were detected during the planning phase, when would-be
53 NOPD Officer
54
A restauranteur
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INTERFOR INTERNATIONAL

US President Joe Biden has blocked a $15bn deal by Japan’s Nippon Steel to buy US Steel, delivering a setback to Washington’s relations with its closest Asia-Pacific ally and prompting the companies to threaten legal action.

Biden, who has long been opposed to the purchase, issued an order on Friday compelling Nippon and US Steel “to fully and permanently abandon the proposed transaction” within 30 days.

In response, the two companies labelled the move “a clear violation of due process” and the law. In an indication of possible legal action, they added: “Following President Biden’s decision, we are left with no choice but to take all appropriate action to protect our legal rights.”

A clause in the original agreement with US Steel obliges Nippon to pay a $565mn break-fee payment in the event the deal is blocked.

Biden’s extraordinary intervention, which comes with just 17 days remaining of his term, caps a presidency in which he has sought to boost American jobs and has moved away from the free-trade agenda of previous administrations.

It is also likely to raise concerns about US receptiveness to future foreign investment, with president-elect Donald Trump, who won November’s election on a protectionist platform, also opposing the deal.

The companies said it was “shocking and deeply troubling that the US government would . . . treat an ally like Japan in this way”.

They added: “Unfortunately, it sends a chilling message to any company based in a US-allied country contemplating significant investment in the US.”

In the order, Biden said there was “credible evidence” that through the acquisition, Nippon “might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States”.

The Committee on Foreign Investment, which vets foreign acquisitions, failed to reach a consensus by a December 23 deadline on whether the transaction posed a national security threat.

The companies said the president had not presented any “credible evidence of a national security issue”, adding that “instead of abiding by the law, the process was manipulated to advance President Biden’s political agenda”.

They added the Cfius process “was deeply corrupted by politics, and the outcome was pre-determined”.

Biden’s intervention marks the failure of Nippon Steel’s ambitious expansion plan that morphed into a sensitive political issue in a US election year.

The decision by the outgoing president, who is known for his support for organised labour, follows fierce opposition to the deal from the United Steelworkers union. The group’s campaign proved fatal to the purchase, despite intense lobbying in recent weeks from executives at US Steel and Nippon.

The White House said Biden’s decision was not meant as a snub to Tokyo.

“This isn’t about Japan. It’s about US steelmaking,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on Friday. It is about “keeping one of the largest steel producers in the United States an American-owned company. It is not about the extraordinary, close relationship, any alliance, that we have with Japan.”

US Steel shares were down more than 6 per cent after the decision.

Opponents of the takeover welcomed Biden’s decision.

Sherrod Brown, the outgoing Democratic senator from Ohio, wrote on X: “This deal . . . represented a clear threat to America’s national and economic security and our ability to enforce our trade laws. It’s why we fought it every step of the way. The president is right to block it.”

Biden’s move to quash the deal will leave the fate of US Steel in limbo. The company had warned it might close mills and reduce its workforce, possibly moving its headquarters away from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, if the agreement was blocked.

Nippon’s proposed takeover had attracted significant support in parts of the US that would have benefited from the promised investment and technology from the Japanese company.

William Chou, deputy director of the Japan chair at the Hudson Institute think-tank, said the decision would devastate the steelmaking communities in western Pennsylvania and Indiana.

“President Biden talks about protecting the American steel industry, but only in the abstract,” he added. “At no point did he engage with actual steelworkers, or address the technology needed to empower them to safeguard the steel industry.”

Japanese officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, have previously said that, while they understood the risk of political intervention that Nippon faced when launching a bid ahead of a US presidential election, it was baffling that a Japanese company should be labelled a security risk.

Heino Klinck, a former US deputy assistant secretary for defence for east Asia, said it was “ironic and nonsensical” that national security concerns were being cited as rationale for blocking the deal, because Japan hosted the world’s largest presence of the US’s forward-deployed military forces.

“This decision will cast a shadow on the alliance,” he said. “It is indeed unfortunate that the Biden administration has handed the Chinese Communist party yet another talking point on America not being a reliable partner.”

Additional reporting by Steff Chávez