(Ben Sellers, Headline USA) A surprise military link between Shamsur-Din Jabbar, the New Orleans attacker who had a furled-up ISIS flag on his truck hitch, and Matthew Livelsberger, the Las Vegas attacker who turned his Cybertruck into a suicide bomb, led some to question whether there could be a connection in the two New Year’s Day attacks.
New reports are surfacing of a potential "Fort Bragg connection" between Shamsur-Din Jabbar, the New Orleans attacker, and Matthew Livelsberger, who has been named as the Las Vegas cybertruck driver.
Fort Bragg has been listed as a common military base and it is plausible both… pic.twitter.com/1bFUfMYk3y
— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) January 2, 2025
Both of the Army veterans reportedly served time at North Carolina’s Fort Bragg (currently called Fort Liberty) during the Obama administration.
As investigative journalist Kyle Becker noted, the base near Fayetteville, one of the world’s largest military bases, is a common way-station for Army recruits, including those undergoing basic training, meaning that the connection, if true, might be a coincidence.
However, some critics of the Biden administration’s open border and other foreign policy decisions, including those who claimed to have particular insight into government operations, said that it was worthwhile to question whether it might not be a coincidence.
Theories varied as to whether the acts of domestic terrorism, if indeed connected, were linked to a foreign government or if the individuals might have been radicalized by the U.S. military itself into committing acts of possible treason in protest of the incoming Trump administration.
In October, investigative journalist Lee Smith issued a stark warning that the propaganda campaign being waged against Trump by individuals such as disloyal former Trump Chief of Staff John Kelly and seditious Gen. Mark Milley, Biden’s former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, might be intended to signal to members of the military that they should plot a coup if Trump won.
“Democratic Party research and media reports show that many senior party officials and operatives are preparing for the possibility of a Trump victory,” Smith wrote in a post on the blog of Claremont Institute chair Tom Klingenstein
“Accordingly, planning is focused on undermining the incoming president with enough violence to rock his administration. Prominent post-election scenarios forecast such widespread rioting that the newly elected president would be compelled to invoke the Insurrection Act,” Smith continued. “With some senior military officials refusing to follow Trump’s orders, according to the scenarios, the U.S. Armed Forces would split, leaving America on the edge of the abyss.”
Smith said the efforts to portray Trump as a threat to democracy itself were effectively being used as dogwhistle code, not for the voting public but for Manchurian-candidate service members who had been brainwashed into a warped sense of patriotic duty.
“By vilifying Trump as a despotic madman who must be stopped before he can commence his reign of terror, the regime’s propaganda apparatus not only slanders Trump but also pre-emptively threatens the reputation, as well as the livelihood and perhaps the liberty, of current military personnel,” he wrote.
The political subtext in Livelsberger’s attack—detonating one of Elon Musk’s Cybertrucks outside of the Trump Tower Las Vegas—seemed undeniable.
Reports indicated that the Colorado Springs resident had previously been involved with Army Green Berets and had inquired via LinkedIn about a “contractor opp” in Ukraine.
Matthew Livelsberger, the suspect of the Trump Hotel Las Vegas bombing, recently used his LinkedIn account to reply to a “contract opp” in Ukraine. Remember, President Trump said he would end the Ukraine war. pic.twitter.com/chMz0pjMYg
— Charles R Downs (@TheCharlesDowns) January 2, 2025
Both Routh and fellow failed Trump assassin Thomas Crooks appeared to have Ukraine-related motives also, with Crooks having been linked to the investment firm BlackRock that is overseeing the country’s postwar reconstruction.
Meanwhile, several sources on X noted that the CIA—which appeared to be involved somehow in the New Orleans investigation—may have been involved during the Obama administration in recruiting and funding ISIS fighters, even as the U.S. was ostensibly fighting the terrorist organization in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East.
Conservative podcaster Peter Santilli went viral with an extended thread that he called the “most important & urgent post I have ever made” presenting the links between the Obama administration and the ISIS insurgency.
THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT & URGENT POST I HAVE EVER MADE PUBLIC, OUTLINING HOW OBAMA, ET AL IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE UPCOMING ALQAEDA/ISIS ATTACKS UPON AMERICA.
Since 2012 when my source "Gandolph" — who was on the ground 3 days after Benghazi — provided me with documented…
— Pete Santilli 🇮🇹 (@petersantilli) January 2, 2025
Many experts agreed that regardless of whether there were any direct ties between the two terrorist events Americans should remain extra vigilant in the days to come—and to arm themselves if possible, as copycat attacks were a strong possibility.
Update: This article originally reported that alleged would-be Trump assassin Ryan Routh visited Fort Bragg on numerous occasions. However, that has turned out to be an unconfirmed rumor originated from Twitter/X personality Tony Seruga, who has spread misinformation in the past. While it’s possible that Routh visited Fort Bragg, this article has been edited to remove that rumor until it’s corroborated by other sources.
Ben Sellers is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/realbensellers.
