On Jan. 1, 2025, a Tesla Cybertruck packed with explosives burst into flames and blew up in front of President-elect Donald Trump’s Las Vegas hotel. The suspect behind the explosion was inside the Cybertruck and was the only person to die from the incident, although seven people nearby received minor injuries.
People on social media began to speculate on the identity of the person in the Cybertruck soon after the explosion. One person claimed the suspect was an H-1B visa holder from Pakistan named Samaar Hydalla, and posted what appears to be an image of the person’s visa to X.
THE QUESTION
Is the person suspected in the Cybertruck explosion outside Trump hotel in Las Vegas an H-1B visa holder named Samaar Hydalla?
THE SOURCES
- Sheriff Kevin McMahill, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department
- U.S. Consulate General, Calgary
- VERIFY analysis of visa image
- Google Images reverse image search
THE ANSWER
No, the person suspected of the Cybertruck explosion outside of Trump’s Las Vegas hotel is not an H-1B visa holder named Sammar Hydalla.
WHAT WE FOUND
The suspect who died in the Cybertruck’s explosion is not named Samaar Hydalla nor is he a foreign worker in the United States on an H-1B visa.
The man inside the Cybertruck was identified as Matthew Livelsberger, a U.S. citizen and Army soldier, Kevin McMahill, sheriff of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, said at a press conference.
The visa image posted to social media is not a real visa. It’s a manipulated version of a sample visa shared by the U.S. State Department.
The ID code at the bottom of the visa matches that of a sample visa posted to Instagram by the U.S. Consulate General, Calgary on Jan. 26, 2023. The sample visa was a B-1 visa for a British woman named “Happy Traveler.”
The manipulated version of the visa is an apparent reference to Sam Hyde, an alt-right comedian whose image is frequently spread as the perpetrator around attacks and mass shootings despite having never actually been the suspect in any such incidents.
The name “Samaar Hydalla” appears to be based on Sam Hyde’s name, and Hyde’s face is poorly photoshopped over the picture of the woman in the original sample image.
VERIFY has debunked claims linking Hyde’s image to past mass shootings.
When another person asked the original poster for their source, the person who posted the image simply tagged Sam Hyde’s X account.