Crime & Law
Chicago Police Increasing Patrols Near Trump Tower After Explosion Outside Las Vegas Hotel
Trump International Tower and Hotel on the Chicago River. (Alexandre Fagundes / iStock)
Chicago police have increased their presence near Trump Tower downtown following a fatal vehicle explosion outside the president-elect’s Las Vegas hotel early Wednesday.
The Chicago Police Department has said that although it has received “no actionable intelligence” regarding any possible incidents near the downtown skyscraper, it will conduct additional patrols in the immediate area.
The announcement comes a day after firework mortars and camp fuel canisters were found stuffed into the back of a Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside Donald Trump’s Las Vegas hotel, killing one person inside the vehicle and sparking an intense investigation into possible terrorism.
According to the Associated Press, the man killed in the explosion was Matthew Livelsberger, a highly decorated U.S. Army Green Beret who deployed twice to Afghanistan.
Livelsberger served in the Green Berets, highly trained special forces who work to counter terrorism abroad and train partners, the Army said in a statement. He had served in the Army since 2006, rising through the ranks with a long career of overseas assignments, deploying twice to Afghanistan and serving in Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia and Congo, the Army said.
He was awarded two Bronze Stars, including one with a valor device for courage under fire, a combat infantry badge and an Army Commendation Medal with valor. Livelsberger was on approved leave when he died, according to the statement.
The FBI said Thursday in a post on X that it was “conducting law enforcement activity” at a home in Colorado Springs related to Wednesday’s explosion but provided no other details.
The explosion occurred just hours after a terrorist attack in New Orleans, where a man rammed a truck into a crowd in the city’s famed French Quarter early on New Year’s Day, killing at least 15 people before being shot to death by police.
Chris Raia, FBI deputy assistant director, said Thursday that officials have found “no definitive link” between the New Orleans attack and the truck explosion in Las Vegas.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
