- The DOJ charged suspects involved in Tesla attacks, calling them “domestic terrorism.”
- Tesla facilities faced new arson and shootings this week, including in Las Vegas on Tuesday.
- Elon Musk said Tesla “just makes electric cars and has done nothing to deserve these evil attacks.”
The Department of Justice is pursuing perpetrators of attacks against Tesla property, calling them “nothing short of domestic terrorism,” as more incidents were reported this week.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a short statement on Tuesday night that the DoJ had charged multiple suspects, including some with crimes that carry mandatory minimum sentences of five years.
“We will continue investigations that impose severe consequences on those involved in these attacks, including those operating behind the scenes to coordinate and fund these crimes,” she said.
No details of the individuals charged were given.
The statement came as more Tesla facilities were targeted on Monday and Tuesday.
Las Vegas police said in a Tuesday briefing that at least five Teslas were destroyed after a suspect set cars on fire and fired at least three rounds on a Tesla store on Badura Avenue early Tuesday in what they called a “targeted attack.” The word “resist” was spray-painted across the storefront, police added.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in an X post on Tuesday night, “This level of violence is insane and deeply wrong. Tesla just makes electric cars and has done nothing to deserve these evil attacks.”
On Tuesday evening, FBI Kansas City said it was working with Kansas City Police to investigate an incident in which Tesla Cybertrucks were damaged at a Tesla deader. Two Cybertrucks caught fire, the Kansas City Star reported.
The latest incidents follow others targeting Tesla facilities over the past two months across the US, including in Massachusetts, Maryland, Colorado, and Oregon.
Tesla has also faced protests abroad from the UK activist group Led By Donkeys. It used a Tesla to draw a slogan reading “Don’t buy a Tesla” on a beach in Wales and projected videos of Musk’s controversial gesture at a Trump rally in late January on Tesla’s factory in Berlin.
Another activist group called Everyone Hates Elon has been running paid-for advertisements on bus stops in London this month.
Following last week’s spate of vandalism against Elon Musk’s EV company, President Donald Trump vowed to label such attacks as domestic terrorism.
The unrest comes as Musk’s DOGE cost-cutting efforts have sparked a backlash against his EV maker.
Some Tesla owners have vowed to sell their cars, some citing Musk’s work directing DOGE’s layoffs, his gesture at the Trump rally, and fear of being harassed.
Tech CEO Mitchell Feldman, a Tesla Model Y owner, told BI he was confronted in a parking lot while on his way to a concert in London.
Tesla stock has more than halved in about three months, while JPMorgan analysts slashed their price target to $135 last week.
Shares could fall even further as investors assess the impact of Chinese EV maker BYD’s new rapid charging technology, Tesla sales slowing worldwide, and Musk’s distraction with DOGE.
While remaining the world’s richest person, Musk’s net worth has fallen by $130 billion this year to $303 billion at Tuesday’s close following the slide in Tesla stock.
