c/politics · by Rapidcreek@lemmy.world · 1y

Driver who exploded Cybertruck in Las Vegas railed about ‘political grievances’ and domestic issues before suicide

https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/03/us/las-vegas-cybertruck-explosion/index.html

43 points · 6 comments · view on lemmy.world

6 Comments

Australis13@fedia.io · 18 pts · 1y (3 replies)

Poor bloke. This sounds like he was in a lot of pain. I feel for his family and friends.

In his writings, the driver of the Cybertruck said the incident was intended not as a “terrorist attack” but rather “a wake-up call,” according to police. He wrote in a letter recovered by investigators that “Americans only pay attention to spectacles and violence” and “fireworks and explosives” were best to get his point across. Livelsberger wrote that he needed to “cleanse” his mind of the “brothers I’ve lost” and relieve himself of “the burden of the lives I took.” He said the US was “terminally ill and headed towards collapse.”

CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 1y (2 replies)

It is pretty clear he was in a lot of pain. Why these people turn into supporters of terrorism / donvict fascism is unclear, however. I just don't get it. This guy ended up taking his own life, but if he didn't....how can someone think that donvict is going to do anything at all for them, nevermind kooks and cranks like Elon and Brainworms? It's like the more the Democrats do to demonstrate they'd want to help and raise up people dealing with mental, physical, financial anguish, the more people that need it the most seem to kick sand in their faces and turn even harder toward the right....

In one of the letters, Livelsberger appears to call for an insurrection and for soldiers and veterans to go to Washington, D.C., for a “purge,” starting with peaceful means but fighting and using “any means necessary” to remove Democrats from the federal government and military.

The second letter expands on Livelsberger’s concerns about American culture, values and wars, praising Trump as “a real President” and telling people to rally around the President-elect, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Australis13@fedia.io · 5 pts · 1y (1 reply)

Unfortunately the right seems to be much better at propaganda (on a number of levels) and I suspect people who are struggling with any of those problems - mental health, physical health, financial, etc. - are more vulnerable to it. Even worse is that it may be too painful for them to accept that they were wrong about something important (e.g. supporting Trump and co) and the internal conflict would likely worsen their mental health.

CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y

Even worse is that it may be too painful for them to accept that they were wrong about something important (e.g. supporting Trump and co) and the internal conflict would likely worsen their mental health.

This is a really good point. I think there is a well-known phenomenon that demonstrates that the more people are presented with evidence that contradicts their closely held belief, they double down even harder.

And then there is the pain from all the cognitive dissonance. It's not likely to be a very healthy state of mind.

technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 10 pts · 1y (1 reply)

"Veteran kills self after decades of death and murder serving an evil empire"

I would love to see some accurate, non-propaganda headlines on this.

Alexstarfire@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y

Yep, no propaganda here.