Message to ex

Assassin felt “like Batman” in cybertruck

Matthew Livelsberger first shot himself in the head before bursting into flames in the rented Cybertruck.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/ASSOCIATED PRESS, APA/Getty Images via AFP/GETTY IMAGES/Ethan Miller)

More and more facts are becoming known about the man who blew himself up in a cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel. The wife of 37-year-old Matthew Livelsberger separated from him at Christmas. After renting the Cybertruck, he told an ex-girlfriend whom he then contacted: "I feel like Batman!"

The 37-year-old drove up to the Trump International Hotel on New Year's Day and blew himself up. He was a US Army soldier from the state of Colorado who had been stationed in Germany and was an ardent supporter of US President-elect Donald Trump. 

"Like a child with a new toy"
Livelsberger is also said to have had some private problems. Just six days before the incident, his wife, Jennifer Davis, had separated from him. She was convinced that her husband had been unfaithful to her. After the argument with Davis, the 37-year-old contacted an ex-girlfriend again. He was "like a kid with a new toy" when he rented the Cybertruck, Alicia Arritt told the Denver Gazette.

In this article, Alicia Arritt is shown with Livelsberger:

She showed the newspaper text messages the would-be assassin sent her before the incident. "I rented a Tesla Cybertruck. It's awesome," wrote the 37-year-old. "I feel like Batman or Halo," he wrote, referring to a science fiction video game series.

Long silence after painful separation
The woman found it strange to suddenly hear from her ex-boyfriend again after such a long period of silence. The two had stopped talking to each other after a painful break-up in 2021. But she would have been happy to receive his messages. He boasted in the conversation that he would build drones and was convinced that Arritt would like that. 

Arritt and Livelsberger were a couple from 2018 to 2021. "I just want everyone to know that Matt was the nicest man I've ever known," the assassin's ex told the newspaper. He was a conservative patriot who loved his country. "He helped me through a difficult time," Arrit continued. 

A neighbor of Livelsberger explained that she was shocked when she learned of his attack. He had known Livelsberger and his current wife, who had just given birth, for two years. "He seemed like a normal guy," the resident explained.