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| Tesla Cybertruck explodes and burns in front of Trump Hotel in Las Vegas (Page 1/4) |
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Patrick
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JAN 01, 08:07 PM
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You can't make this stuff up!
One killed as Tesla Cybertruck explodes at Trump Las Vegas hotel
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Police are investigating the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Police said a truck pulled up in front of the hotel on Wednesday near a glass entrance, then smoke started coming from the vehicle and it exploded.
The driver was killed and seven people were injured, police said without naming any of the individuals involved. Officials said all injuries were minor.
In a post on X, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said 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".
The fire occurred around 0840 PT (1540 GMT), just hours after 15 people were killed when a man drove a truck into a crowd in New Orleans, Louisiana, on New Year's Day.
Police have yet to confirm the if the Las Vegas incident was caused by a bomb or fireworks, but two sources with knowledge of the investigation told the BBC's US partner CBS News that investigators were working to determine whether fireworks were responsible.
Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Police Department said officials were "well aware of what happened in New Orleans", referring to the attack that included improvised explosive devices found near the scene in Louisiana.
"As you can imagine, with an explosion here on an iconic Las Vegas Boulevard, we are taking all of the precautions that we need to take to keep our community safe," he said during a news conference.
"Obviously, a Cybertruck, the Trump Hotel, there's lots of questions that we have to answer as we move forward," he added.
The two incidents have not been linked. Mr McMahill said there was no longer a threat to the Las Vegas community.
More at the above link.
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cliffw
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JAN 02, 12:32 PM
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Patrick, somebody made that up / happen.
A Musk vehicle, in front of a Trump hotel ... interesting.
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blackrams
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JAN 02, 12:36 PM
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Was recently reported on NBC that the person that rented the Tesla was an American "Special Forces" member. No idea if this is factual. Unfortunately, we still don't know who was in the Tesla when it went up in flames.
UPDATE: The man who died in a Tesla Cybertruck explosion was an active-duty US Army Green Beret
https://www.aol.com/man-die...osion-153834390.html
| quote | LAS VEGAS (AP) — The person who died when a Tesla Cybertruck packed with explosives burst into flames outside President-elect Donald Trump’s Las Vegas hotel was a highly decorated U.S. Army Green Beret who deployed twice to Afghanistan, officials said Thursday.
Two law enforcement officials identified the man inside the futuristic-looking pickup truck as Matthew Livelsberger. The officials spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation.
Livelsberger served in the Green Berets, highly trained special forces who work to counter terrorism abroad and train partners, the Army said in a statement. He had served in the Army since 2006, rising through the ranks with a long career of overseas assignments, deploying twice to Afghanistan and serving in Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia and Congo, the Army said. He was awarded two Bronze Stars, including one with a valor device for courage under fire, a combat infantry badge and an Army Commendation Medal with valor. Livelsberger was on approved leave when he died, according to the statement.
The FBI said Thursday in a post on X that it was “conducting law enforcement activity” at a home in Colorado Springs related to Wednesday's explosion but provided no other details.
The explosion of the truck, packed with firework mortars and camp fuel canisters, came hours after 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar rammed a truck into a crowd in New Orleans’ famed French Quarter early on New Year’s Day, killing at least 15 people before being shot to death by police. That crash was being investigated as a terrorist attack and police believe the driver was not acting alone.
Both Livelsberger and Jabbar spent time at the base formerly known as Fort Bragg, a massive Army base in North Carolina that is home to multiple Army special operations units. However, one of the officials who spoke to the AP said there is no overlap in their assignments at the base, now called Fort Liberty.
Chris Raia, FBI deputy assistant director, said Thursday that officials have found ‘no definitive link’ between the New Orleans attack and the truck explosion in Las Vegas.
Seven people nearby suffered minor injuries when the Tesla truck exploded. Video showed a tumble of charred fireworks mortars, canisters and other explosive devices crowded into the back of the pickup. The truck bed walls were still intact because the blast shot straight up rather than to the sides.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Wednesday afternoon on X that “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."
"All vehicle telemetry was positive at the time of the explosion,” Musk wrote.
Authorities know who rented the truck with the Turo app in Colorado, Kevin McMahill, the elected sheriff of Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, said Wednesday. He did not release the person’s ID, however. |
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Rams[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 01-02-2025).]
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Doug85GT
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JAN 02, 12:55 PM
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It would not surprise me if this was caused by either PTSD or brain damage suffered from his service.
RIP
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blackrams
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JAN 02, 02:25 PM
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| quote | Originally posted by Doug85GT:
It would not surprise me if this was caused by either PTSD or brain damage suffered from his service.
RIP |
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Could be, or it could be just an accident/fire due to some very poor planning and execution of a planned celebration. Although, that doesn't seem likely. Not a enough solid information to know.
Edited: Well, I guess this article kind of spoils the accidental fire theory.
Man shot himself in head before Cybertruck exploded outside Trump's Las Vegas hotel, officials say
https://www.aol.com/man-die...osion-153834390.html
Rams[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 01-02-2025).]
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Patrick
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JAN 02, 06:49 PM
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| quote | Originally posted by cliffw:
...somebody made that up / happen.
A Musk vehicle, in front of a Trump hotel ... interesting.
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Quite the metaphor, eh... a "Vice Prez" Elon Musk vehicle burning in front of a Trump hotel. That photo (yes, it is genuine) is liable to become one of the most iconic images of the 2020's.
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[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 01-02-2025).]
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bonaduce
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JAN 03, 07:07 AM
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Is it me, or did the explosion/fire actually make the cyber truck look better
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MarkS
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JAN 03, 08:57 AM
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| quote | Originally posted by bonaduce:
Is it me, or did the explosion/fire actually make the cyber truck look better |
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Ugliest damn thing going! Having said that, from what I've read, the construction of that "work of art" probably limited the damage the explosion could have caused.
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blackrams
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JAN 03, 07:17 PM
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Soldier who died in Las Vegas explosion left note saying it was to be a wakeup for country's ills
https://www.aol.com/questio...truck-192658327.html
| quote | LAS VEGAS (AP) — An Army soldier who fatally shot himself in a Tesla Cybertruck just before it exploded outside the Trump hotel in Las Vegas on New Year's Day left notes saying it was stunt to serve as a “wakeup call” for the country’s ills, investigators said Friday.
Matthew Livelsberger, a 37-year-old Green Beret from Colorado Springs, Colorado, also wrote in the note that he needed to “cleanse my mind” of the lives lost of people he knew and “the burden of the lives I took.”
Livelsberger apparently harbored no ill will toward President-elect Donald Trump, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officials said.
“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 In Charge Spencer Evans said at a news conference.
The explosion caused minor injuries to seven people but virtually no damage to the Trump International Hotel. Authorities said Friday that Livelsberger acted alone.
“This was not a terrorist attack, it was a wakeup call. Americans only pay attention to spectacles and violence. What better way to get my point across than a stunt with fireworks and explosives,” Livelsberger wrote in a letter found by authorities who released only excerpts of it.
Investigators identified the Tesla driver — who was burned beyond recognition — as Livelsberger by a tattoo and by comparing DNA from relatives. The cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot to the head, according to coroner officials.
Authorities excerpted the messages from two letters Livelsberger wrote using a cellphone note application, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren said.
The letters covered a range of topics including political grievances, domestic issues and societal issues, Koren said.
Tesla engineers, meanwhile, helped extract data from the Cybertruck for investigators, including Livelsberger’s path between charging stations from Colorado through New Mexico and Arizona and on to Las Vegas, Koren said.
“We still have a large volume of data to go through,” Koren said. “There’s thousands if not millions of videos and photos and documents and web history and all of those things that need to be analyzed.”
The new details came as investigators sought to determine Livelsberger’s motive, including whether he sought to make a political point with the Tesla and the hotel bearing the president-elect’s name.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has recently become a member of Trump’s inner circle. Neither Trump nor Musk was in Las Vegas early Wednesday, the day of the explosion. Both had attended Trump’s New Year’s Eve party at his South Florida estate.
Investigators have not yet explained how Livelsberger shot himself inside the Cybertruck while simultaneously igniting fireworks and camp fuel packed inside, causing the explosion.
Investigators suspect Livelsberger may have been planning a more damaging attack, but the steel-sided vehicle absorbed much of the force from the crudely built explosive.
Among the charred items found inside were a handgun at Livelsberger’s feet, another firearm, fireworks, a passport, a military ID, credit cards, an iPhone and a smartwatch, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Kevin McMahill said. Authorities said both guns were purchased legally.
A law enforcement official said investigators learned through interviews that he may have gotten into a fight with his wife shortly before he rented the Tesla in Colorado on Saturday and bought the guns. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.
In recent years Livelsberger confided to Alicia Arritt, a former girlfriend who had served as an Army nurse, that he faced significant pain and exhaustion she attributed to traumatic brain injury.
He opened up to Arritt, 39, whom he met and began dating in Colorado in 2018, about exhaustion, pain that kept him up at night, and reliving violence from his deployment in Afghanistan, Arritt said.
“My life has been a personal hell for the last year,” he told Arritt in text messages during their early days of dating that she shared with The Associated Press.
The Green Berets are highly trained U.S. Army special forces who specialize in guerrilla warfare and unconventional fighting tactics.
Livelsberger served in the Army since 2006. He rose through the ranks and deployed twice to Afghanistan and served in Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia and Congo, according to the Army. He recently returned from an overseas assignment in Germany and was on approved leave when he died, according to a U.S. official.
He was awarded five Bronze Stars, including one with a valor device for courage under fire, a combat infantry badge and an Army Commendation Medal with valor.
Authorities searched a townhouse in Livelsberger's hometown of Colorado Springs Thursday as part of the investigation. Neighbors said the man who lived there had a wife and a baby.
Across-the-street neighbor Cindy Helwig said she last saw him when he asked to borrow a tool to fix an SUV.
“He was a normal guy,” said Helwig.
The truck explosion came hours after 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar rammed a truck into a crowd in New Orleans’ famed French Quarter early on New Year’s Day, killing at least 14 people before being shot to death by police. The FBI says they believe Jabbar acted alone and that it is being investigated as a terrorist attack. |
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Rams
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Patrick
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JAN 03, 08:15 PM
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Sounds like someone is really trying hard to put a BS pro-Trump spin on this event.
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