‘Tesla Terrorists’ Angry at Elon Musk Up the Ante by Setting Fire to Electric Vehicles at Dealers in Two States Overnight
Elon Musk says the attack at Las Vegas is ‘terrorism’ and ‘evil.’
Vandalism against Teslas and the auto dealerships that sell them — some of it at the hands of left-wing activists opposed to Elon Musk’s role in the Trump administration — is turning increasingly violent, with federal officials now investigating two more incidents of the electric vehicles being set on fire in two different states.
Early Tuesday morning, police at Las Vegas were called to a Tesla Collision Center. The Las Vegas police department told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that “Communications received information that an individual had set several vehicles on fire in the parking lot and caused damage to the property.”
The FBI confirmed to the paper that it had “personnel on scene to offer assistance to LVMPD.”
A video shared by the Las Vegas Review-Journal showed multiple vehicles ablaze, with plumes of dark smoke and sparks flying out of one of them.
The assistant sheriff for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department told reporters, “This was a targeted attack against a Tesla facility.” Officials said the word “RESIST” was spray painted on the vehicles, and that other vehicles at the facility were shot.
The suspect was seen wearing black clothes and is believed to have used a firearm and a Molotov cocktail.
Fires involving Teslas and other electric vehicles are notoriously dangerous for first responders and difficult to extinguish. The massive lithium-ion batteries in the cars are prone to what’s known as “thermal run-away” and usually require much more water and specialized techniques to put out than regular car fires.
Mr. Musk, Tesla’s chief executive, shared the video on X and wrote, “This level of violence is insane and deeply wrong. Tesla just makes electric cars and has done nothing to deserve these evil attacks.” In another post, he described the fires as “terrorism.”
The apparent attack comes as Tesla dealerships and chargers have been vandalized with swastikas or the words “No Musk,” an apparent protest against Mr. Musk’s role in leading the Department of Government Efficiency and its mission to shrink the size of the federal government.
While officials described the Las Vegas attack as an isolated incident, police at Kansas City are investigating a suspected arson attack at a Tesla dealership there that occurred Monday night. The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are involved in that investigation.
Law enforcement said an officer saw a Cybertruck on fire at the dealership, and before firefighters could extinguish the flames, it had spread to another vehicle. The ATF called the incident “suspicious in nature.”
In February, police arrested an individual identified as Lucy Gracy Nelson, formerly known as Justin Thomas Nelson, for allegedly throwing Molotov cocktails at a Tesla dealership in Colorado.
Last week, President Trump — while he had Tesla vehicles at the White House — was asked if he would consider the perpetrators of the violence “domestic terrorists.” He answered in the affirmative.
“I’m going to stop them … because they’re harming a great American company,” Mr. Trump said. “When you hurt an American company, especially a company like this that supplies so many jobs that others are unable to do.”
Additionally, the House DOGE subcommittee chairwoman, Marjorie Taylor Greene, said her committee asked Attorney General Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel to investigate what she described as “organized attacks” against Tesla.
During an interview on Fox Business’ “Mornings with Maria” on Friday, Ms. Bondi said she directed an investigation into the vandalism to “see how this is being funded” and who is doing it.
“We have people we’re locking up on that,” she said. “We have someone in jail right now from one of the dealerships. They threw a Molotov cocktail through a dealership. They’re looking at up to 20 years in prison.”
She also warned that if someone is going to “touch a Tesla, go to a dealership, do anything, you better watch out because we’re coming after you.”
