The suspects in a pair of attacks carried out in New Orleans and Las Vegas on New Year's Day both have ties to Fort Liberty, formerly known as Fort Bragg, a military base that has a surprisingly controversial history.
Newsweek reached out to the U.S. Army Public Affairs for comment by email after the Pentagon referred to them for comment in response to an email request.
The Context
A Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside a Las Vegas hotel owned by President-elect Donald Trump on New Year's Day. Halfway across the country, a driver in a white Ford pickup truck plowed into a crowd of pedestrians in New Orleans.
Authorities said Thursday that they see no connection between the two attacks, but revealed that the suspects in both attacks were Army veterans who had served at Fort Liberty.
What To Know
Fort Liberty is not only the largest military base in the country, it's possibly the largest military base in the world by population: it employs over 52,000 military personnel, while also housing their families and a number of civilian employees.
The Department of Defense estimates that as many as 63,000 active-duty family members live on the base. It also houses the Army's XVIII Airborne Corps and the United States Army Special Operations Command.
Where is Fort Liberty located?
The base, built in 1918 near the end of World War I, is located just west of Fayetteville, North Carolina. It initially served as an artillery training ground due to the "year-round acceptable climate, suitable terrain and rail facilities," according to Veteran Aid.
The U.S. Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) says on its website that the base stretches into six counties and touts the nearby city of Fayetteville's "amenities of bigger cities" including "sophisticated restaurants, museums, unique shopping, musical and sporting events, kid-friendly fun, elegant and quirky art galleries, gardens, trails and parks."
Why Did Fort Bragg Change Its Name?
Originally, the fort bore the name of North Carolina native Braxton Bragg, who commanded Confederate States Army forces in the Civil War. Like other installations across the South, the base retained its name as a means of commemorating local heritage.
However, in 2020, amid the Black Lives Matter protests following the death of George Floyd, the military pledged to review the names of its bases and assess if their names should be changed. That ultimately resulted in a number of bases named for Confederate figures having their names changed.
As of 2020, 10 bases had retained names of Confederate States Army officers, which retired U.S. Army general and former CIA director David Petraeus said was unacceptable in an op-ed for The Atlantic.
President-elect Donald Trump in October 2024 pledged to change the name back, having originally opposed the initiative.
Unsolved Murders at Fort Liberty
The most ignominious aspect of Fort Bragg, which has faded from the public consciousness along with the name change, is its association with murders that have occurred on the base's grounds.
The biggest incident occurred in 2020, when some 44 soldiers died stateside. Some of the deaths were ruled homicides and others were suicides.
In 2023, Fort Liberty was ranked top among fatal overdoses in the military between 2017 and 2021, WCNC Charlotte reported.
In fact, according to a Rolling Stone investigation, the combination of murders, suicides and overdoses on the base resulted in over 100 deaths in just two years since the pandemic started.
Rolling Stone investigative reporter Seth Harp told The Daily Beast that he has failed to find similar occurrences at any other base in the country.
"I have repeatedly asked the military: can you show me another base where there's been a death toll this high in two years?" Harp said. "But they have never been able to actually point to a situation or a past occurrence like this—so I'm going to stick with my assumption that it really is unprecedented."
In 2010, four wives living on the base were killed by their husbands—soldiers stationed at the base—as advocacy groups continued to petition the Pentagon to provide more resources to help soldiers and spouses deal with adjusting to military life.
The murders are not limited to on-base; in one case, paratrooper specialist Enrique Roman-Martinez disappeared while camping on an island on the Outer Banks with half a dozen other soldiers from Fort Bragg.
His decapitated remains washed ashore after a few days, and three years later, the case remained unresolved, even as authorities ruled his death a homicide.
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text "988" to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.
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