Today on &#8220;Dystopia Now,&#8221; we take a look at something called the Enhanced Games, where nearly 40 athletes compete while doped up on performance-enhancing substances. You can catch them at Resorts World Las Vegas in late May.
A Legion of Doom-worthy coalition of tech billionaires is funding the Enhanced Games, including Peter Thiel, the Winklevoss twins, Saudi prince Khaled bin Alwaleed Al Saud, and Donald Trump Jr. According to their materials, it’s &#8220;a diversified revenue model designed to capitalize on the growing global demand for sports entertainment, performance enhancement and longevity products.&#8221;
As Richard Dawson said in &#8220;The Running Man,&#8221; “Without further ado, it’s time to start running!”
A major driver behind the Enhanced Games is German tech billionaire Christian Angermayer, the author of the Next Human Agenda. He is <a href="https://christianangermayer.substack.com/p/the-future-is-enhanced">pushing the games</a> as &#8220;a significant economic driver for the biotech pharma industry in the years ahead.&#8221;
 If the Enhanced Games sounds suspiciously like an advertisement for Compound V, the superhuman-making substance in &#8220;The Boys,&#8221; it should. This isn’t a sports gambit — it’s an advertisement for the “longevity” industry, based on big tech’s obsession with expanding the human lifespan and human vitality. 
The problem is, Compound V can create metahumans like Homelander, who is a total psychopath but is essentially evil Superman, but it can also create people with the power to shoot octopi out of their butts, or some such thing. We know that these substances aren’t steroids or cocaine, but we don’t know much else about them, or about their long-term effects. The Enhanced Games is promising sprint records, but A-Train, the super-sprinter on &#8220;The Boys,&#8221; has extreme heart issues and a dependency on Compound V.
Some athletes — who are either being paid very well, desperate for glory, or both — don’t seem to care. Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev broke a 50-meter freestyle world record in an Enhanced Games trial last year, making a million dollars in the process. As Forbes <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/josipamajic/2026/04/06/pro-doping-enhanced-games-raise-12-billion-before-a-single-race/">reported</a> this week, “Irish swimmer Max McCusker, also an Olympian, said publicly that his decision to join was a &#8220;no-brainer&#8221; after earning less than $10,000 across four years of professional swimming.”
<div id="attachment_1076275" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1076275" class="size-large wp-image-1076275" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Enhanced-Games-II-1024x549.jpg" alt="Screenshot: Enhanced Games/YouTube.com" width="1024" height="549" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Enhanced-Games-II-1024x549.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Enhanced-Games-II-300x161.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Enhanced-Games-II-768x411.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Enhanced-Games-II-1536x823.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Enhanced-Games-II.jpg 1960w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Screenshot: Enhanced Games/YouTube.com</div>
So what&#8217;s the endgame? Clearly, life expansion is a mantra of the day, slotting in alongside at-home helper robots, personalized flight, Mars colonization, and the AI singularity. We seem to be heading toward a bifurcated, Gattaca-like future, with “optimized” people at the top of the pyramid and a vast mass of suboptimal people at the bottom, Elois performing feats of strength at Resorts World for an audience of barely human Morlocks.
All this reminds me of the opening credits of the “Six Million Dollar Man,” “Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability of making the world’s first bionic man. Better than he was before. Better. Stronger. Faster.” (Of course, today, six million is rounding error).
This future is actually kind of appealing, even interesting. We should at least try to see if the current billionaire obsession with hyperbaric cold plunges and blood transfusions and liquid megavitamins and genetic manipulation works. My own program of fish-oil pills, probiotics, not eating like crap, and standing on my head a few times a week seems to be working just fine, but I haven’t really started into the peak of my decline yet.
The real test of Enhanced Games technology won’t be how it affects super-swimmers or Olympic sprinters, who are already close to Peak Personhood. When they start injecting nootropics into people like me, to see if they can make the Substack posts a little snarkier and the decision-making at the $400 No-Limit Hold Em poker tournaments a little smarter, then we’ll see how well it works. Just remember that, sure, there are a lot of super-people in &#8220;The Boys.&#8221; But most of them end up with exploding heads.
* * *
Neal Pollack, “the greatest living American writer,” is the author of 12 semi-bestselling books of fiction and nonfiction and is a three-time “Jeopardy!” champion.

enhanced games

The Enhanced Games And The Billionaire Dream Of Superhumans

Drugs

DW Opinion

Humor

Las Vegas

Olympics

Performance Enhancing Drugs

Sports

Steroids

Swimming

Technology

Television

Track and Field

Pop singer Jennifer Lopez is getting mixed reactions for a move she made during her performance at the 2025 American Music Awards (AMAs) on Monday night.
The 55-year-old was wearing a bedazzled jumpsuit while performing a medley of songs during the show’s opening when she unexpectedly kissed one of the male dancers on stage, then turned to a female dancer and kissed her, too. 
While many fans praised Lopez’s performance, others called it “trashy” and accused the singer of ripping off Madonna, who infamously locked lips with both Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera while performing at the MTV Video Music Awards in August 2003.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Jennifer Lopez&#39;s opening performance at the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AMAs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AMAs</a> gets steamy. <a href="https://t.co/nV6rIfStD4">pic.twitter.com/nV6rIfStD4</a>
&mdash; Variety (@Variety) <a href="https://twitter.com/Variety/status/1927155536123875700?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 27, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“Desperate attempt to return to relevancy,” one reply <a href="https://x.com/PriceOnCulture/status/1927162366136852931">said</a>. 
“Aging rough. Gross,” another person echoed.
“Pretty trashy,” a third commenter <a href="https://x.com/SPMadMax/status/1927216070517043205">wrote</a>.
“I can smell the desperation for attention,” another reply <a href="https://x.com/1UPCJ/status/1927217223623458947">said</a>. “Lady you&#8217;re 55&#8230; stop embarrassing yourself and just call it quits.”
Despite the audience having a negative reaction online, the night’s next presenter had nothing but praise for Lopez. &#8220;How cool is it to have a total superstar like J.Lo hosting the AMAs?&#8221; actress Tiffany Haddish told the audience gathered at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas. 
&#8220;Our host has just danced to 23 hits in six minutes,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;Just from that opening number alone, Jenny from the Block has got all her steps in for the day, and she got all her kisses in. Save a dancer for me, J.Lo. Damn! You ain&#8217;t the only one out here single.&#8221;  
The night’s big winner was Billie Eilish, who won in all seven categories for which she was nominated, including major accolades such as Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, and Song of the Year.
Lopez made headlines last summer when she filed for divorce from actor Ben Affleck, with whom she had been married for about two years. The pair was previously engaged and broke up in 2002, then reconnected years later and made much ado about their rekindled romance. The “Love Don’t Cost a Thing” singer is currently single.

Jennifer Lopez

‘Desperate’: Viewers React To Jennifer Lopez Making Out With Dancers At AMAs

'Desperate:' Viewers React To Jennifer Lopez Kissing Male, Then Female Dancer At AMAs

Awards

Celebrities

Entertainment

singer

U.S.

Fans of the popular YouTube content creator MrBeast (real name Jimmy Donaldson) who paid for an “immersive” experience in Las Vegas are demanding their money back, saying they didn’t get anything close to what was advertised.
The event at Resorts World Las Vegas was advertised as an &#8220;immersive&#8221; and &#8220;unforgettable.&#8221; It was supposed to include exclusive games, a MrBeast-themed menu, and mystery bags filled with limited-edition merchandise. There was also supposed to be at least one bag containing a $10,000 gift voucher.
All of these details were meant to justify the $1,000 per-ticket price tag for the three-day event, which took place from April 13 to April 15.
“It should have been like mini-games, meet and greets, photo ops, special drinks, and things,” participant Theresa Metta <a href="https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/mrbeast-fans-seek-refunds-after-las-vegas-event/">told</a> Vegas-based outlet 8NewsNow. “Unfortunately, we didn’t get any of that.”
&#8220;I was told to wait in my room for two days for a package to come, so I legit spent two days in my room for a package to come, and it was a box of chocolates,&#8221; she continued.
&#8220;They said there would be mystery bags or boxes, and that one person would win $10,000, and then there would be a limited edition merchandise inside the boxes,&#8221; another guest, Jamie Yacksyzn, told <a href="https://people.com/mrbeast-fans-seek-refunds-for-usd1k-per-ticket-las-vegas-event-after-disappointing-experience-11716907">People</a>. 
&#8220;They also said the contents of the boxes are secret and not to be found out until you get the box,” she added. “So it alluded to the fact that there was going to be more special surprises in the box, and that there would be immersive experiences throughout the hotel floor and restaurants and activations.&#8221;
Yacksyzn continued, &#8220;I had seen things about the experience reported on MrBeast pages. Knowing how MrBeast is, and he does secret surprises and things, the hotel had also mentioned that it would be aligned with MrBeast&#8217;s reputation for being generous and his generosity.&#8221;
One guest posted a complaint on X with similar gripes about the lack of “experience” and the special merchandise being nothing more than “leftover shirts that cost $9.”
This prompted Donaldson to <a href="https://x.com/MrBeast/status/1912299963838509240">reply</a> from the MrBeast X account, saying, &#8220;Hey! This definitely isn&#8217;t the experience we hoped they&#8217;d deliver. My team&#8217;s already on it–I&#8217;d love to personally make it up to you and anyone else by inviting everybody affected to tour my actual studio! Can&#8217;t wait to meet you all and my team is reaching out to everyone :D.&#8221;
Resorts World took responsibility for the ordeal, admitting that &#8220;expectations were not met during the MrBeast experience.&#8221; The hotel said in an email that customers would be refunded in the next three to five days.

MrBeast

MrBeast Fans Demand Refund After $1K Per Ticket Vegas Experience Disaster

General

influencer

Nevada

YouTube

The Justice Department announced Wednesday night that another “high level” MS-13 gang member wanted in connection to multiple murders had been arrested in New York. 
Attorney General Pam Bondi said that Joel Vargas-Escobar, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, had been arrested on Tuesday and charged with a racketeering conspiracy involving 11 murders. Vargas-Escobar, who was previously deported in 2018, is suspected of being part of the command and control structure of MS-13 in Las Vegas and California. 
Vargas-Escobar was charged with racketeering conspiracy, two counts of murder-in-aid of racketeering, and multiple gun charges. He was detained by law enforcement on Long Island. 
“The American people are safer following the arrest of yet another MS-13 leader thanks to the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division and Joint Task Force Vulcan,” Bondi said. “This terrorist entered our country illegally and is accused of orchestrating 11 murders — under President Trump’s leadership, we will not rest until this terrorist organization is completely dismantled and its members are behind bars.”
Vargas-Escobar is accused of operating MS-13’s “Parkview” clique in Las Vegas and personally ordering two murders and orchestrating nine more, according to the DOJ. The murder victims were taken to remote mountain or desert locations and tortured before being killed.  
“The arrest of yet another violent and dangerous MS-13 leader is a major win for our FBI agents, law enforcement partners, and safer American streets,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “Our agents and analysts are continuously coordinating across multiple field offices and investigating with our valued partners to keep this work going — and we will not stop until that work is done.”
The alleged gang leader first appeared in court Wednesday morning in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York – Central Islip. He will be sent to Nevada for his trial, where he could face life in prison if convicted. 
This arrest follows an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fbi-arrests-top-ms-13-leader-just-outside-d-c-america-is-safer-today" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announcement last week</a> the FBI had arrested 24-year-old Henrry Josue Villatoro Santos, who the DOJ said was the top leader of MS-13 for the East Coast. He was arrested and charged with immigration and gun crimes last week during a predawn operation in Virginia.

EL SALVADOR-PRISON-GANGS-INMATES

FBI Arrests ‘High Ranking’ MS-13 Member Accused Of ‘Orchestrating’ 11 Murders

Crime

Department of Justice

kash patel

MS-13 Gang

New York

Pam Bondi

UFC Fight Night, brought to you in part by <a href="https://www.jeremysrazors.com/">Jeremy’s Razors</a>, is storming back into the UFC Apex in Las Vegas tonight with a <a href="https://www.ufc.com/event/ufc-fight-night-march-01-2025">main event</a> that promises to set the flyweight division ablaze. 
Headlining the card is a thrilling showdown between Manel Kape and Asu Almabayev — a clash of styles and wills that’s sure to redefine the flyweight landscape. This is a Fight Night you won’t want to miss!
<h3>Kape vs. Almabayev</h3>
Manel Kape, the Angola-born powerhouse, steps into the cage with a chip on his shoulder. Known for his blistering speed and knockout artistry, Kape has been on a mission to prove he’s the next big thing in the flyweight division. Kape enters the bout with a 20-7 record, and he’s coming off a win in his last fight. 
Facing Kape is Asu Almabayev, a Kazakh sensation who brings an unrelenting grappling game and a suffocating pace that’s left opponents gasping for air. Sitting at an impressive 21-2 record, Almabayev is hungry to cement his name among the elite.
<h3>Brundage vs. Marquez</h3>
In this slugfest, two Americans — Cody Brundage and Julian Marquez — square off for an all-important middleweight fight. Brundage loves to wear down his foes with pressure and grit. Meanwhile, Marquez, dubbed “The Cuban Missile Crisis,” is all about chaos — packing serious power and a flair for dramatic finishes. 
Both men are coming to throw down and rebound from their last fights — which was a no-contest for Brundage and a loss for Marquez. Expect this one to end with someone staring at the ceiling before the final bell.
<h3>Haqparast vs. Ribovics</h3>
Morocco’s Nasrat Haqparast (17-5) enters with his signature razor-sharp boxing and a wealth of experience, looking to build on his recent momentum after a strong 2024. Known for his technical striking and durability, he’s a tough out for anyone. Across the octagon, Argentina’s Esteban Ribovics (14-1) is riding a three-fight win streak, capped by a stunning knockout of Drew Dober, showcasing his explosive finishing ability and dynamic style. With Haqparast’s precision meeting Ribovics’ chaos, this bout promises a high-paced striking war that could end in a highlight-reel moment. 
<h3>Amil vs. Gomis</h3>
The Hyder Amil faces off against William Gomis in this featherweight bout that’s sure to keep everyone guessing. Amil, an American powerhouse with a flawless 10-0 record, brings his relentless aggression and devastating knockout power to the cage. 
Meanwhile, Gomis, the 27-year-old French sensation is riding a 14-2 record and has his sights set on cracking the featherweight top 15. 
<h3>Lane vs. Pinto</h3>
In this heavyweight bout, former NFL player Austen Lane is looking to string together back-to-back wins. Known for his physicality and wrestling background, Lane could lean on takedowns to control the fight, but his recent losses by knockout highlight a vulnerability against heavy hitters.
Pinto, meanwhile, is making his UFC debut, arriving on the scene with momentum from a first-round TKO of Luis Camacho on Dana White’s Contender Series in October 2024.
<h3>Stars on the Rise</h3>
Don’t miss the prelims on Saturday, which feature brawls that could steal the show. Numerous matches, including two women’s bouts, will keep the crowd on the edge of their seats. 
UFC Fight Night on March 1 isn’t just another event — it’s a proving ground for some of the hungriest fighters in the game. With the flyweight division heating up, Kape vs. Almabayev could shake up the title picture, while the undercard is primed to deliver knockouts and submissions. The prelims kick off at 4 PM ET/1 PM PT, with the main card dropping at 7 PM ET/4 PM PT, streaming live on ESPN+. Whether you’re a diehard fan or just love a good scrap, this night at the Apex is going to be pure adrenaline from start to finish.
***
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UFC Fight Night: Kape v Almabayev

UFC Fight Night: Kape vs. Almabayev – A Flyweight Firestorm Awaits Tonight

Jeremy's Razors

President Donald Trump on Saturday floated the idea of sending nearly 90,000 new IRS agents to the southern border after pausing hiring at the agency.
Trump spoke at a rally at the Circa Resort &amp; Casino in Las Vegas over the weekend, and he joked that the tens of thousands of new IRS agents — hired under former President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act — would be fired or reassigned to work at securing the border.
“They hired, or tried to hire, 88,000 workers to go after you and we’re in the process of developing a plan to either terminate all of them, or maybe we’ll move them to the border,” he told supporters
“I think we’re going to move them to the border where they are allowed to carry guns. You know, they’re so strong on guns. But these people are allowed to carry guns. So we will probably move them to the border,” he said to cheers from the crowd.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Trump suggests sending IRS agents to the border <a href="https://t.co/ljTsu78o1I">https://t.co/ljTsu78o1I</a> <a href="https://t.co/1HyeL9HCr7">pic.twitter.com/1HyeL9HCr7</a>
&mdash; New York Post (@nypost) <a href="https://twitter.com/nypost/status/1883531902323511376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office freezing hiring for any “Federal civilian position that is vacant at noon on January 20, 2025,” for 90 days with some exceptions.
“This order does not apply to military personnel of the armed forces or to positions related to immigration enforcement, national security, or public safety. Moreover, nothing in this memorandum shall adversely impact the provision of Social Security, Medicare, or Veterans’ benefits. In addition, the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) may grant exemptions from this freeze where those exemptions are otherwise necessary,” the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/hiring-freeze/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">order</a> states.
The Inflation Reduction Act granted about $80 billion in additional funding to the IRS, with most of those dollars, $46 billion, allocated toward enforcement, according to the <a href="https://taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/how-did-inflation-reduction-act-2022-affect-irss-budget" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tax Policy Center</a>. Operations support received $25 billion, and most of the rest went toward modernizing systems and taxpayer services.
Republicans have promised to rescind the additional funding allocated to the IRS under the 2022 Biden-era legislation.

Donald Trump

Trump Jokes That He’ll Send 90k IRS Workers To The Border

Trump Jokes That He'll Send 90k IRS Workers To The Border

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/las-vegas" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department</a> (LVMPD) released a letter from the man who blew himself up in a Tesla Cybertruck this week that they located on one of two cellphones they recovered from inside the vehicle.
The letter was located on an app on the cellphone belonging to Master Sgt. Matthew Livelsberger, the U.S. Army Green Beret who they identified as the person who shot himself inside the vehicle moments before the explosives he placed in it detonated.
FBI Special Agent Spencer Evans said that the incident was “a tragic case of suicide involving a heavily decorated combat veteran who is struggling with PTSD and other issues.”
In the letter, Livelsberger said that the U.S. was &#8220;the best country&#8221; to ever exist, but that in its current state, it was &#8220;terminally ill and headed toward collapse.&#8221;
He talked about the decline in traditional values in the letter and warned that political elites view the masses as &#8220;cattle.&#8221;
He warned that most people had no purpose in life and were &#8220;just sitting around waiting to die.&#8221;
&#8220;No sunlight, no steps, no fresh air, no hope,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Our children are addicted to screens by the age of two.&#8221;
He said that Americans were &#8220;too fat to join the military yet we are facing a war with China, Russia, North Korea and Iran before 2030.&#8221;
He called for focusing on increasing strength and winning in society and removing those from government who do not like those ideals; ending the war in Ukraine through a negotiated settlement as fast as possible; ending wealth inequality and improving conditions on America&#8217;s streets so there were not so many homeless people; and stop obsessing over diversity.
&#8220;We are all diverse and DEI is a cancer,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Thankfully we rejected the DEI candidate and will have a real President instead of Weekend at Bernie’s.&#8221;
He said that his decision to detonate the bomb he created was &#8220;not a terrorist attack, it was a wake up call.&#8221;
&#8220;Americans only pay attention to spectacles and violence,&#8221; he said. &#8220;What better way to get my point across than a stunt with fireworks and explosives?&#8221;
He said that he did it because he needed to &#8220;cleanse&#8221; his &#8220;mind of the brothers I’ve lost and relieve myself of the burden of the lives I took.&#8221;
He called on Americans to rally around some of the biggest figures in the Republican Party &#8220;and ride this wave to the highest hegemony for all Americans!&#8221;
Livelsberger said that the U.S. was being led by &#8220;weak and feckless&#8221; leaders who only care about enriching themselves.
He called for taking action against the individuals in the U.S. government whom he said were ruining the country, warning &#8220;they all must go and a hard reset must occur for our country to avoid collapse.&#8221;

Cybertruck Explosion Outside Trump International Hotel Investigated For Terror Ties

Police Release Manifesto From Suspect Who Blew Up Cybertruck

PTSD

Terrorism

Tesla

Master Sgt. Matthew Livelsberger, the U.S. Army Green Beret who blew up a Tesla Cybertruck on New Year&#8217;s Day in front of the Trump International Hotel in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/las-vegas" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Las Vegas</a>, reportedly suffered from PTSD and other personal issues when he decided to take his own life this week.
Officials from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD), FBI, and ATF shared updates from their investigation into the incident at a press conference on Friday afternoon.
They revealed that they have found no connection between the incident in Las Vegas and the Islamic terrorist attack that unfolded just hours prior to the incident in New Orleans where more than a dozen people were murdered.
Law enforcement confirmed Livelsberger&#8217;s identity through a variety of investigative techniques, including DNA matching.
LVMPD Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren said that Livelsberger documented his activities during the 10 days prior to the explosion in an app on his cellphone, including where he traveled, weapons he bought, camping gear he bought, and more. They said that at the moment, there did not appear to be any significant meaning behind his decision to commit the act in a Tesla Cybertruck.
Koren said that the incident was being viewed as a suicide via a Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED), even though he took his life with a single gunshot wound to the head just moments before the explosion.
Police released the following excerpts from writings they discovered on one of his cellphones that they recovered from inside the vehicle:
<ul>
<li>&#8220;Fellow Servicemembers, Veterans, and all Americans, TIME TO WAKE UP! We are being led by weak and feckless leadership who only serve to enrich themselves.&#8221;</li>
<li>&#8220;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? Why did I personally do it now? I needed to cleanse my mind of the brothers I&#8217;ve lost and relieve myself of the burden of the lives I took.&#8221;</li>
<li>&#8220;We are the United States of America, the best country people to ever exist! But right now we are terminally ill and headed toward collapse.&#8221;</li>
</ul>
Koren suggested that more excerpts from his writings could be released in the future.
&#8220;He does offer additional information that is varying on the spectrum in terms of political grievances, issues about the conflicts elsewhere, not here, domestic issues, societal issues, a variety of other things, including personal challenges as well,&#8221; Koren said. &#8220;We are intending to release those initial letters so people can understand the best they can what the person&#8217;s thought process was at one point in time.&#8221;
FBI Special Agent Spencer Evans said that law enforcement has not been able to identify any information indicating that Livelsberger belonged to any kind of a terrorist group or had any contact with one.
&#8220;Investigative steps have discovered, and information from the Army indicates, that he likely suffered from PTSD, and we are also aware that there were potential other family issues or personal grievances in his own life that may have been contributing factors,&#8221; Evans said.
He said that the Livelsberger &#8220;considered, planned, and thoughtfully prepared for this act alone.&#8221;
Evans again added that the incident was &#8220;a tragic case of suicide involving a heavily decorated combat veteran who is struggling with PTSD and other issues.&#8221;
He addressed an email that was released on a popular podcast that is allegedly from Livelsberger, saying that the FBI has &#8220;not conclusively determined that that&#8217;s from the subject, but feel confident, based on evidence that we&#8217;re uncovering on his devices, that that was, in fact, from [the suspect].&#8221;
&#8220;So in terms of the so-called manifesto that&#8217;s circling or circulating online, we have strong evidence to suggest that it was the subject that wrote it, but we haven&#8217;t conclusively proven that,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And that evidence relates to other evidence that we&#8217;re finding, that we&#8217;re able to compare that lead us to believe it was in fact him who sent it.&#8221;
Evans said that Livelsberger was not on the FBI&#8217;s radar because he had no criminal history.

Man Who Blew Up Cybertruck Was ‘Struggling With PTSD And Other Issues,’ Officials Say

Legendary guitarist <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/carlos-santana-takes-the-stage-once-again-after-canceling-tour-dates-following-collapse">Carlos Santana</a> announced that he must postpone his upcoming 2025 residency in Las Vegas after he suffered a “hard fall” and broke his finger.
The residency &#8212; which was scheduled to kick off at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on January 22 &#8212; has been postponed after the 77-year-old guitarist suffered an “accidental fall” at his vacation home in Hawaii, a statement on his <a href="https://www.santana.com/">website</a> from Michael Vrionis, President, Universal Tone Management, read.
“I am sorry to say that Carlos was out taking a walk at his vacation home in Kauai,” Vrionis said in the statement. “He took a hard fall, and he broke his little finger on his left hand. He had to have pins inserted in the finger.”
“Unfortunately, he won’t be able to play guitar for approximately six weeks,” he added. “Doctors do say that he will recuperate fully. Carlos is doing well and is anxious to be back on stage soon. He just needs to heal.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Carlos Santana Postpones Las Vegas Residency Shows Due to Broken Finger<a href="https://t.co/kEmcLi2nTQ">https://t.co/kEmcLi2nTQ</a>
— billboard (@billboard) <a href="https://twitter.com/billboard/status/1875275474512798099?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2025</a></blockquote>
“Santana profoundly regrets these postponements of his upcoming performances, but accidents happen, and his health is our number one concern,” the statement continued. “He is looking forward to seeing all of his fans very soon.”
The Vegas residency is now scheduled to start again May 14 with the postponed dates from the first part of the 2025 residency to be announced at a later time, <a href="https://variety.com/2025/music/news/carlos-santana-postpones-las-vegas-residency-accidental-fall-broken-finger-1236264849/">Variety</a> noted.
According to his website, the other dates scheduled as part of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame guitarist’s “Oneness Tour” are still set to happen, with the U.S. part of the tour still scheduled to kick off in “Highland, CA at Yaamava’ Resort &amp; Casino at San Manuel on April 16,&#8221; making stops in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and Nashville.
The Europe and U.K. portion of the tour is still currently set to begin on June 9 in “Lodz, Poland with stops throughout Europe and the UK, ending in Copenhagen, Denmark on August 11,” it added. Tickets went on sale in December. The entire list of tour dates can be found <a href="https://www.santana.com/">here</a>.
In 2022, Santana made headlines after he was forced to cancel and postpone several shows following his sudden collapse on stage during a show in Michigan, after reportedly suffering from a “serious medical issue,” as <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/carlos-santana-collapses-on-stage-during-concert-due-to-serious-medical-issue">The Daily Wire</a> previously reported.
The performer’s rep later announced that several dates would be rescheduled “out of an abundance of caution for [his] health&#8221; and said he just needs rest and to recuperate fully. The legendary rocker resumed his tour weeks later.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/legendary-guitarist-carlos-santana-a-woman-is-a-woman-a-man-is-a-man" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Legendary Guitarist Carlos Santana: ‘A Woman Is A Woman, A Man Is A Man’</a>

Santana In Concert – Clarkston, MI

Carlos Santana Postpones Upcoming Vegas Residency After Suffering Fall

Carlos Santana

Injury

Music

The owner of the Tesla Cybertruck that was blown up in front of the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas says the suspected attacker was “pretty calm and chill” when renting the car days earlier in Colorado, and stayed in contact with questions about the vehicle up until the day before the explosion.
In an exclusive interview with The Daily Wire, the owner, whose name is being withheld due to privacy concerns, says he spent an hour with Matthew Livelsberger when the latter picked up the car on Saturday, December 28. The vehicle was rented using Turo, a service that facilitates rentals directly from car owners, and the pair met at a Denver, Colorado hotel, according to text message correspondence reviewed by The Daily Wire.
Livelsberger appeared “normal” during the interaction, and set the car’s navigation for Las Vegas soon after renting the car, the owner says.
“He didn’t know how to use the truck and so I, just like every Turo that I rent out, I walk them through everything,” the owner told The Daily Wire. The owner described Livelsberger as “for all intents and purposes, a normal dude,” saying that “he seemed pretty calm and chill,” the owner said.
The owner, who has cooperated with authorities, says Livelsberger said he intended to drive the Cybertruck to the Grand Canyon, and recalled questioning Livelsberger about having such a long drive on the itinerary for a short three-day rental. But he also recalls noticing that he was navigating to the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas from the start.
“‘That’s a really long drive for three days. How are you going to do that?’&#8221; the owner says he asked Livelsberger. “He said he was going to the Grand Canyon, but I noticed he was mapping to Vegas. He was mapping to the Trump Hotel.”
Livelsberger is alleged to have parked the vehicle in front of the Trump property with a trunk full of explosives and fireworks. Surveillance video at the scene shows the truck exploding into a ball of flames just before 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, and the incident is being investigated as an act of terror.
The owner says that he talked to Livelsberger the day before the incident, and that just a few hours before the explosion, he had received a message that Livelsberger was extending his rental.
Livelsberger also called the Cybertruck owner on New Year’s Eve to ask how to operate the vehicle’s hazard lights, he says. At 3:00 a.m. on January 1, he says he received a message requesting to extend the rental for two more days.
The Cybertruck owner said that Livelsberger was in regular communication throughout the duration of the rental, and asked a lot of questions. In hindsight, his questions now make “more sense.”
“He asked a bunch of questions that now make a lot more sense, like, how the outlet works in the back. My guess is that he must have used that somehow,” the owner recalled. “He was asking me, like, ‘How do I turn it on? Can I turn it on from outside the car?’”
The owner was able to monitor the vehicle’s location throughout the rental, until he was locked out of the system after the explosion. The Cybertruck owner said that Livelsberger went directly to a sporting goods store in the Denver area, potentially to buy items that could be used as explosives. Photographs sent by Livelsberger of the vehicle, and reviewed by The Daily Wire, confirm the stop at the sporting goods store.
After that, he entered the Las Vegas Trump Hotel into the Tesla’s navigation system, the owner says.
The Cybertruck owner says that Livelsberger turned off the vehicle’s live camera feed at some point the night before the attack. He also said that the “Tesla app went dark right around when the bomb went off.” He said Tesla should have all of the footage of Livelsberger on their cloud, which the owner cannot currently access. Tesla didn’t respond to inquiries.
Law enforcement officials said Thursday that Livelsberger shot himself in the head before the explosives were detonated.
Authorities are still searching for a motive. The Associated Press is<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-hotel-explosion-tesla-cybertruck-5c5a8fd13a50e2bcde46370ae926d427" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> reporting</a> that Livelsberger “may have gotten into a fight with his wife about relationship issues shortly before he rented the Tesla and bought the guns.”
Livelsberger served in the U.S. Army Special Forces, otherwise known as Green Berets, at the time of his death. CBS News has<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-tower-las-vegas-cybertruck-explosion-fire/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> reported</a> that he “was serving in Germany but was on leave in Colorado at the time of the incident.”
Livelsberger’s uncle, Dean Livelsberger,<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/cybertruck-explosion-suspect-matthew-livelsberger-vegas-b2672940.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> told</a> The Independent that his nephew “loved Trump” and he “was always a very, very patriotic soldier, a patriotic American.”
With Elon Musk teaming up with President Trump in recent months and slated to lead a proposed Department of Government Efficiency, the imagery of a burning Cybertruck parked outside of a Trump property is not being viewed as a coincidence by law enforcement officials
“It’s not lost on us that it’s in front of the Trump building, that it’s a Tesla vehicle,” said Spencer Evans, the Las Vegas FBI agent in charge of the investigation.
The owner of the Cybertruck said that Livelsberger didn’t mention politics, and seemed to love Tesla.
“Tesla and everybody, obviously are asking me all kinds of questions, like ‘Did he say anything about Elon Musk? Did he say anything about Donald Trump? Did he say anything political?’ He didn’t say anything about any of that stuff. He actually seemed kind of like a fan-boy of the car,” he said.
The Denver Gazette<a href="https://denvergazette.com/news/matthew-livelsberger-cybertruck-trump-hotel-las-vegas-attack-explosion-text-messages/article_1ee12c84-c967-11ef-9afb-63dc827cd3c9.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> reported</a> on Thursday that Livelsberger’s ex-girlfriend, Alicia Arritt, says that he texted her Sunday morning praising the Cybertruck and saying that it made him “feel like Batman or halo.”
The same report says Arritt claims his “behavior changed in 2019 after he returned from a tour in the Middle East with a traumatic brain injury.”
The owner said when he first heard of the explosion, he thought it couldn&#8217;t have been Livelsberger, because of how normal their interaction was.
“In my head, I feel like, maybe it wasn’t him,” the owner said. “Maybe someone just took the car. Maybe he bought all that stuff just to go camping. And then somebody just grabbed it and, like, used it.”
Vikki Migoya, a Public Affairs Officer of the FBI’s Denver office, said she was unable to answer specific questions about the “ongoing” investigation.
“FBI Denver; the Denver Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the Colorado Springs Police Department today conducted law enforcement activity at a residential address in Colorado Springs,” the spokeswoman said in a statement. “FBI Denver personnel and specialized teams were on-site for several hours. This activity is related to the explosion in Las Vegas on Wednesday; due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, no further information will be provided out of Denver.”

LAS VEGAS, NV – January 01: A Cybertruck covered with a tarp is

EXCLUSIVE: Owner Of Tesla Cybertruck Used In Vegas Bombing Recalls Hour Spent With Suspect

Bombings

Trump Hotel

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/las-vegas" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department</a> said on Thursday that the man who blew up a Tesla Cybertruck in front of Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas this week died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Authorities identified the man responsible for the detonation as Matthew Livelsberger, a 37-year-old active-duty U.S. Army Green Beret.
Officials were waiting for DNA verification to be completed to officially confirm his identity since the body was so severely disfigured.
A government identification card and passport belonging to Livelsberger were found inside the vehicle.
&#8220;Livelsberger died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound before the explosion occurred,&#8221; LVMPD said in a statement.
Police said that investigators found two firearms, fireworks, gas canisters, and other miscellaneous items as well.
“The level of sophistication is not what we would expect from an individual with this type of military experience,” said Kenny Cooper, a special agent in charge for the the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Livelsberger was the only person killed in the explosion. Several people standing nearby were injured.
“It’s not lost on us that it’s in front of the Trump building, that it’s a Tesla vehicle, but we don’t have information at this point that definitively tells us or suggests it was because of this particular ideology,” said Spencer Evans, the Las Vegas FBI’s special agent in charge.
Officials said in a statement that he was &#8220;on approved leave from Germany served with the 10th Special Forces Group&#8221; when he detonated the explosives.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨 LVMPD Update on Vehicle Explosion
Yesterday, January 1, 2025, at approximately a.m., LVMPD responded to a vehicle explosion involving a Tesla Cyber Truck at a hotel property on Fashion Show Drive. One person was found deceased in the vehicle, and seven others sustained minor… <a href="https://t.co/zT2mar9Tg1">pic.twitter.com/zT2mar9Tg1</a>
— LVMPD (@LVMPD) <a href="https://twitter.com/LVMPD/status/1874911744599929179?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 2, 2025</a></blockquote>

Las Vegas Police: Man Who Detonated Cybertruck Died From Self-Inflicted Gunshot Wound

Law Enforcement

The man inside a Tesla Cybertruck packed with explosives who died when it exploded outside President-elect Donald Trump’s Las Vegas hotel on New Year’s Day has been identified as a former Green Beret who had served at the same U.S. Army base as the terrorist who killed at least 15 people in New Orleans the same day.
Law enforcement officials identified the man in the rented Cybertruck as Matthew Livelsberger, a U.S. Army veteran since 2006 who had served in Afghanistan and Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia, and Congo. He had served at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, although not at the same time as Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, who rammed his truck into New Year’s revelers in New Orleans’ French Quarter. However, an FBI official at a press conference on Thursday morning said that there was &#8220;no definitive link&#8221; between the two attacks at the current moment as the investigation is still in its preliminary stages.
Fox News <a href="https://x.com/JacquiHeinrich/status/1874861794507850017">reported</a> that Livelsberger &#8220;was an active-duty Special Forces operations sergeant who was on leave from Germany where he was serving with the 10th Special Forces Group.&#8221;
&#8220;Master Sgt. Matthew Alan Livelsberger enlisted as an 18X and served in the active duty Army from January 2006 to March 2011,&#8221; an Army spokesperson told Fox. &#8220;Livelsberger then joined the National Guard from March 2011 to July 2012, followed by the Army Reserve from July 2012 to December 2012. He entered the active duty Army in December 2012 and was a U.S. Army Special Operations Soldier. Additionally, U.S. Army Special Operations Command can confirm Livelsberger was assigned to the command and on approved leave at the time of his death.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Army spox tells FOX the suspect in the Las Vegas Cybertruck explosion was an active-duty Special Forces operations sergeant who was on leave from Germany where he was serving with the 10th Special Forces Group:
&#8220;Master Sgt. Matthew Alan Livelsberger enlisted as an 18X and served…
— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) <a href="https://twitter.com/JacquiHeinrich/status/1874861794507850017?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 2, 2025</a></blockquote>
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“Livelsberger was believed to be active on LinkedIn, and often commented on posts from colleagues in the military, according to Newsweek. In a comment on one post about student debt, he apparently responded to a question asking who was responsible for debts, saying, ‘The govt,’” <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/matthew-livelsberger-las-vegas-tesla-cybertruck-explosion-suspect-social-media-2008453" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Newsweek</a> reported.
“Authorities know who rented the truck with the Turo app in Colorado, Kevin McMahill, the elected sheriff of Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, said Wednesday. He did not release the person’s ID, however,” AP <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-hotel-explosion-tesla-cybertruck-5c5a8fd13a50e2bcde46370ae926d427" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
The Tesla Cybertruck’s construction prevented a greater explosion; Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Goj-dMyceM&amp;list=RDNS-Goj-dMyceM&amp;start_radio=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a>, “So those are gasoline canisters; they are camp fuel canisters and large firework mortars. &#8230; It looks like the exterior of that truck is completely intact as it sits there. The fact that this was a Cybertruck, really limited the damage that occurred inside of the valet because it had most of the blast go up through the truck and out. In fact, if you look on that video, you’ll see that the front glass doors at the Trump Hotel were not even broken by that blast.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Law Enforcement Officials are claiming that because the Suspect used a Tesla Cybertruck in their Attack earlier today against the Trump Hotel &amp; Casino on the Las Vegas Strip, which has 1.4mm Body Panels and 1.8mm Door Panels, the Explosion only caused Minimal Damage; with even… <a href="https://t.co/3aBWrA8hfC">pic.twitter.com/3aBWrA8hfC</a>
&mdash; OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) <a href="https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1874624147088625789?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 2, 2025</a></blockquote>
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“We have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck and is unrelated to the vehicle itself.   All vehicle telemetry was positive at the time of the explosion,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1874579547452269054?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1874579547452269054%7Ctwgr%5Eadac1a6677fe7631113ed16d7fa2b322cac11a1b%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fus%2Flas-vegas-police-say-cybertruck-exploded-trump-hotel-had-fuel-containers-large-firework-mortars" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> on X.

Further Details On Cybertruck Las Vegas Bomber Revealed

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