Uncle says Cybertruck driver was Trump supporter, questions whether explosion was intentional

Mary Hynes, Las Vegas Review-Journal on Jan 2, 2025

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LAS VEGAS — The family member of a Green Beret who drove a rented Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside the Trump International on New Year’s Day is not convinced that he intended to harm anyone.

Dean Livelsberger, the uncle of Matthew Livelsberger, on Thursday described his nephew as a patriot and a Trump supporter who had served in the Army Special Forces.

“If he’d have wanted to really hurt anybody he could have,” he said. “Things are not adding up. That’s why I don’t think it was deliberate. … He had the skill set to cause damage.”

He speculated that the battery installed in the Tesla Cybertruck his nephew was in might have exploded, igniting the fireworks that were in the vehicle, a theory authorities have not espoused. Matthew Livelsberger died by suicide moments before the blast that injured seven other people.

In a post on X on Wednesday afternoon, Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote: “We have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck and is unrelated to the vehicle itself.”

Matthew Livelsberger’s uncle said he had lived nearby when his nephew was growing up in Ohio.

“Matt, when he was growing up, all he wanted to do was join the Army,” his uncle said. “Especially he wanted to be a Special Forces soldier because he loved the country so much.”

He said his nephew was very intelligent and had been quickly promoted up through the ranks.

When on leave, Matthew Livelsberger, who served three tours in Afghanistan, would collect donated toys for the children in the war-torn country and ship them back. “He was a very caring person in that way,” his uncle said.

Dean Livelsberger said he had not spoken to his nephew in years but had stayed in touch through social media, where Matthew had posted about admiring Donald Trump.

Matthew had recently posted about being a new father and had posted photos of his marriage proposal, his uncle said. A previous marriage had ended in divorce.

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