(Ken Silva, Headline USA) On Jan. 7, law enforcement discovered a “manifesto” on the phone of the highly decorated soldier who allegedly exploded a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump hotel in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day.
But within 48 hours, the Department of Defense classified the manifesto of the soldier, 37-year-old Matthew Livelsberger, keeping it hidden from the public, according to a newly released after-action report from the Las Vegas Metro Police Department.
The after-action report, released Monday, says the LVMPD was about to release information about the manifesto before federal authorities classified it on the grounds that it could harm national security.
“Before Sheriff McMahill’s third press conference, where he intended to provide updates on a manifesto that was recovered among Livelsberger’s digital devices, the FBI notified him that the Department of Defense had deemed the manifesto classified, and LVMPD could no longer release further information to the public,” the report says.
“Due to concerns regarding national security, LVMPD halted its investigation to allow its federal partners to take the lead, at the direction of the Department of Defense.”
🚨Law enforcement found a manifesto on the New Year's Day Cybertruck bomber's phone on Jan. 7, but the Pentagon classified it within 48 hours — keeping it secret on national security grounds.
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— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) November 4, 2025
The classification of Livelsberger’s manifesto deepens the mystery of a case that has already sparked conspiracy theories. An email posted by former CIA contractor turned podcaster Shawn Ryan, which was not confirmed by Headline USA, suggested that Livelsberger may have had inside information about the spate of recent drone sightings in American airspace.
The conspiracy theories were amplified by the fact that the Cybertruck incident occurred on the same day that a 42-year-old Army veteran Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar rammed a pickup truck into a crowd in New Orleans’s famed French Quarter—killing 14 people who were celebrating the New Year. Police fatally shot Jabbar in a following firefight, and authorities later determined that the incident was inspired by the foreign terrorist organization ISIS.
Sen. Chuck Grassley noted the similarities between the two incidents in a letter to the FBI in January.
“For example, both individuals had experience in the U.S. Army and the vehicles in both incidents were rented from the same company, Turo. Further, according to reports, authorities claimed Livelsberger and Jabbar “likely overlapped at Fort Bragg and again in Afghanistan,’” Grassley noted in a Jan. 24 letter. “It remains unclear whether there are additional similarities or connections between Jabbar and Livelsberger.”
Grassley asked the FBI in January whether the two attacks were connected, but never followed up on his letter.
The Cybertruck explosion caused minor injuries to seven people but virtually no damage to the hotel. Authorities said 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.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
