New Developments in Tesla Cybertruck Explosion Investigation Reveal Strange Emails Sent in Suspect’s Final Hours

Micah Hanks·
Las Vegas Cybertruck attack
The Tesla Cybertruck explosion, as seen on security camera footage obtained during the Jan. 1, 2025 incident (Public Domain).

Welcome to this week’s installment of The Intelligence Brief… as authorities continue to investigate a Tesla Cybertruck explosion orchestrated by a U.S. Special Operations soldier in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day, odd new details have emerged that raise new questions about the bomber’s possible motives. We’ll be examining 1) what authorities have learned in their investigation into the concerning incident, 2) the suspect’s history, confirmed manifesto, and use of AI in helping him plan the bombing, 3) claims of additional contact with Livelsberger that surfaced during an episode of U.S. military veteran Shawn Ryan’s podcast, and 4) what the FBI has revealed about the newly-surfaced communications, and what it all could mean.

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Quote of the Week

“Although this incident is more public and more 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 Spencer Evans

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Authorities Search for Clues to Green Beret Bomber’s Motives

The ongoing investigation into a pair of unnerving incidents that unfolded on January 1, 2025, has taken a mysterious and unexpected turn, raising new questions about the possible motivations behind an incident involving a Tesla Cybertruck explosion that occurred in Las Vegas.

Last week, just hours after a deadly terrorist attack that killed 15 people in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day in New Orleans, 37-year-old Matthew Livelsberger parked a rented Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, which he had driven more than 800 miles from his home in Colorado. Shortly after arriving, the vehicle exploded, injuring seven people nearby.

Livelsberger, a U.S. Special Operations soldier on leave from the military base in Germany where he was stationed, had packed the vehicle with fireworks-style mortars and canisters of gasoline. Prior to the explosion, Livelsberger appears to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, and authorities say the weapon was found near the suspect’s badly charred remains within the vehicle.

Factors and Influences

Although questions remain about Livelsberger’s motives, authorities have revealed that a pair of letters were found on his phone that described several of the veteran’s grievances. It was also revealed based on phone records that he had used ChatGPT to help him plan the New Year’s Day bombing.

“Investigative steps have discovered and information with the Army indicates that [Livelsberger] likely suffered from PTSD,” said Spencer Evans, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Las Vegas Division, earlier this week. Evans added that the FBI is “also aware that there were potential other family issues or personal grievances in his own life that may have been contributing factors.” Evans said that Livelsberger had no criminal history.

The emerging picture of Matthew Livelsberger remains consistent with those who knew him during his nearly two decades in service with the U.S. military. The veteran served on active duty beginning in January 2006 and lasting until March 2011, after which he joined the National Guard. In 2012, he left this position and spent a short time with the Army Reserve until December 2012, at which time he resumed active duty as a Special Operations soldier.

Claims of Alleged Contact with Livelsberger Emerge

However, in recent days, reports surrounding the Las Vegas Cybertruck explosion have taken a strange turn; one involving mysterious claims that suggest a complex web of mental wellness concerns, alleged U.S. war crimes, and even the U.S. government’s investigations into unidentified anomalous phenomena.

The allegations surfaced during a recent episode of The Shawn Ryan Show, where the former U.S. Navy Seal turned podcast host was joined by intelligence analyst Sam Shoemate, who made an alarming claim: that he had received an email from Livelsberger prior to the Cybertruck incident in Las Vegas on January 1, 2025.

Screenshots of the email allegedly sent by Livelsberger to Shoemate were provided to Ryan, which were shown during the podcast and later shared on social media. In the message, the author of the email makes several extraordinary claims, which included how several of the recent sightings of “mystery drones” involve “gravitic propulsion systems powered aircraft by most recently China,” further alleging that the U.S. has had similar technologies for decades. According to the email, China has reportedly been launching these aircraft from submarines based in the Atlantic Ocean for several years; the implication being that some of the mysterious aerial objects observed during military training exercises off the U.S. East Coast could be related to such technologies.

The email’s author further claimed that the speed and stealth capabilities of these unmanned aerial vehicles make them “the most dangerous threat to national security that has ever existed.”

“It’s checkmate,” a portion of the email reads. “USG needs to give the history of this, how we are employing it and weaponizing it, how China is employing them and what the way forward is. China is poised to attack anywhere in the east coast.”

The email then proceeds with vague accounts of alleged U.S. war crimes that the U.S. has been involved in covering up, which reportedly occurred “during airstrikes in Nimruz province Afghanistan in 2019.” In concluding, the alleged author writes, “For vetting my Linkedin is Matt Berg or Matthew Livelsberger, an active duty 18Z out of 1-10 my profile is public. I have an active TSSCI with UAP USAP access,” seemingly a reference to an unacknowledged special access program (USAP) related to what the U.S. government now calls unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP).

Reactions and Official Responses

Reactions to the information were mixed, with some on social media even accusing Ryan’s guest, Sam Shoemate, of fabricating the email allegedly written by Livelsberger. One of the critics, a professional analyst and YouTuber named Ryan McBeth, claimed he had found evidence of suspicious activities Shoemate had engaged in previously, and speculated that the email reportedly sent by Livelsberger was most likely part of a hoax.

McBeth was not alone in his critiques, as many others on social media also questioned the claims that aired on Ryan’s show. However, Shoemate apparently had not been the only individual who received such communications prior to the Las Vegas incident; a look back at emails sent to Ryan’s podcast prior to January 1 showed that a message sent from the same email address used in the communications with Shoemate had also been sent directly to Sean Ryan.

The most convincing corroboration for the strange development came earlier this week however, when FBI Special Agent Evans confirmed to reporters that the emails sent to The Shawn Ryan Show were indeed believed to have been sent by Matthew Livelsberger prior to his death.

“So we have confirmed the document that he sent to the podcast, we know that [Livelsberger] was the one that sent that document, that’s correct,” Evans said during a press conference on Tuesday.

Ryan McBeth has since also conceded that he was incorrect in making assertions that Shoemate might have forged the email he claimed he had received from Livelsberger. “I got a crucial piece of the puzzle wrong,” McBeth said in a video that appeared on social media on Wednesday. “And I called someone a liar who apparently didn’t lie about an email they received.”

So where does all of this leave us?

Although the FBI says it believes the emails Sam Shoemate and Shawn Ryan received were authentic, that confirmation alone does not verify the claims it contained involving war crimes, Chinese “gravitic propulsion” devices, and Livelsberger’s alleged knowledge of unacknowledged U.S. government UAP programs.

As FBI Special Agent Spencer has said of the investigation, “Although this incident is more public and more 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.” Ultimately, the added revelation of Livelsberger’s unusual claims and attempted communication with famous podcasters in the days leading up to his demise only add further questions to a tragic and unsettling episode that has kept many Americans on edge as we head into the New Year.

That concludes this week’s installment of The Intelligence Brief. You can read past editions of our newsletter at our website, or if you found this installment online, don’t forget to subscribe and get future email editions from us here. Also, if you have a tip or other information you’d like to send along directly to me, you can email me at micah [@] thedebrief [dot] org, or Tweet at me @MicahHanks.

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