Vegas bombing was an act of “MAGA Terrorism”—why won’t media call it that?!

This makes us less safe!

If you read about a person--who before he intentionally blew himself up in front of a well-known hotel--had left a note declaring his support for the leader of group with history of violence, praised what that group stood for and dubbed his bombing a “wake up call” to his fellow believers to rise up and kill those who opposed them, you would not hesitate to label that person a terrorist. Nor should you.

Those are the very facts surrounding Matthew Livelsberger’s actions on New Years Day outside the Trump hotel in Las Vegas. Yet corporate media refuses to use words “MAGA terrorism”—and many are leaving out of their reporting the full details of Livelsberger’s final bone-chilling notes.

We now know many of the key facts in connection with 37 year-old Livelsberger—whose Uncle explained “loved” Trump. He was a career Army Special Forces master sergeant who served three tours in Afghanistan and was decorated by the Army for valor. Reportedly, he suffered from some form of PTSD that likely drove him to take his own life by shooting himself while in the Tesla truck. Tragically, nearly 20 veterans each day in the United States commit suicide.

But Livelsberger didn’t commit suicide like many others in a spur of the moment event or in a private setting like a home. This was part of plot hatched over time. As FBI Special Agent In Charge Spencer Evans stated Friday, “It’s evident that [Livelsberger] considered, planned, and thoughtfully prepared for this act.”

Livelsberger rented the Tesla vehicle and then filled it with explosive materials including “fireworks, small canisters of propane and exploding targets used in shooting.” Once he arrived in Las Vegas, he drove back and forth on the Vegas Strip for one hour before finally pulling in front of the Trump hotel. He could’ve picked any hotel but he detonated the explosives in front of Trump’s hotel in the apparent hopes that his message would receive even more attention—something we have seen terrorists do throughout history. When the explosives in his car detonated, seven bystanders were injured.

On Friday, the authorities revealed two notes Livelsberger left behind on his electronic devices that are bone-chilling and make it clear the goal was to use this spectacle to share his political views and incite more violence. That turns this from a heartbreaking suicide into an act of “domestic terrorism” as defined by federal law given that the explosion “involve acts dangerous to human life” and was in furtherance of a political agenda.

Livelsberger wrote point bank in a note he directed to, “Fellow Servicemembers, Veterans, and all Americans” that it’s, “TIME TO WAKE UP!” He continued on to explain, “This was not a terrorist attack, it was a wake up call. Americans only pay attention to spectacles and violence. What better way to get my point across than a stunt with fireworks and explosives?”

But the corporate media articles almost all ignored other parts of his note and instead focused on his next comment: “Why did I personally do it now? I needed to cleanse my mind of the brothers I’ve lost and relieve myself of the burden of the lives I took.”

That is misleading reporting on a few counts. First, most articles leave out that in the next line, Livelsberger pledged his allegiance to Trump and the MAGA agenda and urged others to do the same. Livelsberger wrote, “Consider this last sunset of ’24 and my actions the end of our sickness and a new chapter of health for our people. Rally around the Trump, Musk, Kennedy, and ride this wave to the highest hegemony for all Americans!” (Boldface added.)

Livelsberger was urging people in his last words to support Trump and other MAGA leaders. His note also amplified the MAGA agenda such as writing “DEl is a cancer” and he labeled Vice President Harris “the DEl candidate” who “thankfully we rejected.” He mocked Biden by referring to him as “Weekend at Bernie’s,” while sharing joy about Trump’s win, claiming now we will have a “real President.”

But the most alarming and sinister parts of his notes have been barely covered by the media. For example, under his call for “Fellow Servicemembers, Veterans, and all Americans” to “wake up,” he urged them to head to Washington, D.C. to “purge” the government and military from those who oppose them. He wrote, “Military and vets move on DC starting now. Militias facilitate and augment this activity.” He demanded them take control of the facilities until “the purge is complete.”

Those ominous words are made more concerning by the lines that followed. Livelsberger made it explicitly clear that the target of this purge are Democrats—who if they won’t give up power peacefully, force must be used. He wrote, “Try peaceful means first, but be prepared to fight to get the Dems out of the fed government and military by any means necessary.” He added, “They all must go and a hard reset must occur for our country to avoid collapse.”

If you read about this note from a person who blew themselves up outside a famous hotel but replaced his target of “Dems” with say the word “infidels,” there would be zero hesitance to label this an act of terrorism. But corporate media has long had problems calling white people “terrorists.”

In contrast, in the case of the New Orleans attacker Shamsud Din-Jabbar who drove his rented truck into the crowd on New Years Day and killed 14 people, he has rightfully been labeled a terrorist given videos showing him swearing allegiance to ISIS and his goal being to further their sick agenda. In some parts of corporate media, there has been nuanced coverage of what led him to this dark place from personal to financial issues, etc. But the coverage still includes—rightfully—a look into what radicalized him in the hopes of preventing ISIS from successfully recruiting others in the future.

That same investigation must take place here. We can’t have double standards when an attacker is a white MAGA supporter versus when it’s an African American man who converted to Islam like Din-Jabbar. I don’t say that just because it’s unfair. But more importantly, it makes us less safe.

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