Matthew Livelsberger, a 37-year-old Green Beret from Colorado Springs, Colorado, also wrote in notes he left on his cellphone that he needed to “cleanse” his mind “of the brothers I’ve lost and relieve myself of the burden of the lives I took.” Livelsberger served in the Army since 2006 and deployed twice to Afghanistan.
“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,” Livelsberger wrote in one letter found by authorities and released Friday.
Not to be a big asshole or anything, but we’ll forget about this by Monday.
No, they’ll keep overanalyzing and rehashing every detail, because it keeps Luigi Mangione out of the news.
That makes me wonder if that’s why he did it.
“If I blast myself for GOP causes writ large, I will be the new Famous Martyr!”
I mean, nobody remembers that guy that blew himself up in Nashville either. That was in the news for 2 days and everyone moved on.
Or this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-immolation_of_Aaron_Bushnell
It’s unfortunate for those who self-immolate as an anti-war or anti-genocide protest, but it just doesn’t seem like it works because the public just doesn’t care enough to remember them for long, so it is not effective as a form of protest.
I remember. That shit shook me for weeks. Sometimes I still think of his burning body.
Burning yourself won’t stop Israel, sure. But it gets people involved. It got me involved.
It shouldn’t take someone lighting themselves on fire to get you to care about genocide but I guess at least you got there
I cared before too. There is a difference between passively engaging in BDS and pouring your heart and soul into a movement.
Edit: I felt the need to elaborate.
For a very long time I followed the boycott and donated what I could. Genocide is atrocious, but what else could I do? I lived in the middle of bumfuck nowhere; There weren’t exactly any movements nearby I could get involved in.
I then saw a man from bumfuck nowhere drive all the way to the Israeli Embassy and burn himself alive. I realised there was a whole lot of things I could do.
I also moved to Ireland, so I got a lot more opportunities to act on my sentiments.
We’ve had like five major events in 3 days. I can’t blame anyone for missing one or two of them.
Saturday is only the 4th day of 2025.