Seattle (AP) – Cybertrucks Ret Flaze. Molotov bullets and cocktails for Tesla exhibition halls.
The attacks on property carrying the logo of the Elon Musk electric car company arise in the United States and abroad. Although no injury has been reported, Tesla exhibition halls, vehicle lots, charging stations and private cars have been targeted.
There was a clear increase that President Donald Trump took up his duties and allowed Musk to supervise a new Ministry of Effectiveness of the Government which reduces public spending. Experts from domestic extremism say that it is impossible to know if the wave of incidents will make a long -term scheme.
In the first term of Trump, its properties in New York, Washington and elsewhere have become a natural place for protest. At the start of her second term, Tesla fulfills this role.
“Tesla is an easy target,” said Randy Blazak, a sociologist who studies political violence. “They roll in our streets. They have dealers in our neighborhoods. ”
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Musc reviews have organized dozens of peaceful demonstrations among Tesla dealerships and factories across North America and Europe. Some owners of Tesla, including an American senator who argued with Musk, have promised to sell their vehicles.
But the attacks occupy the police.
Colorado prosecutors accused a woman last month in connection with attacks on Tesla dealers, including Molotov cocktails thrown on vehicles and the words “Nazi cars” painted by spraying on a building.
And the federal agents in South Carolina arrested a man last week who, according to them, set fire to the Tesla stations near Charleston. An agent of the alcohol, tobacco, firearm and explosives office wrote in an affidavit that the authorities found writings criticizing the government and the Doge in his room and his portfolio.
“The declaration mentioned the sending of a message based on these beliefs,” wrote the agent.
Some of the most important incidents have been reported in left-wing cities in the northwest Pacific, such as Portland, Oregon and Seattle, where anti-top and anti-MUSC feelings are high.
An Oregon man faces accusations after pretending to have launched several Molotov cocktails in a Tesla store in Salem, then turning another day and shooting windows. In the suburbs of Portland de Tigard, more than a dozen balls were fired in a Tesla exhibition hall last week, damaging vehicles and windows, the second time in a week when the store was targeted.
Four cybertrucks were burnt down in Tesla terrain in Seattle earlier this month. On Friday, witnesses reported that a man paid gasoline on an unoccupied Tesla Model and sparked a fire in a street in Seattle.
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In Las Vegas, several Tesla vehicles were burnt down early Tuesla from a Tesla service center on Tuesday where the word “resistance” was also painted red through the entrance doors of the building. The authorities said that at least one person has launched Molotov cocktails – raw bombs filled with petrol or other flammable liquid – and has pulled several bullets from a weapon in vehicles.
“Was this terrorism? Was it something else? He certainly has some of the characteristics that we could think – writing on the wall, the potential political agenda, an act of violence,” said Spencer Evans, the special agent in charge of the Las Vegas FBI office, at a press conference. “None of these factors is lost to us.”
Tesla becomes a target for the left
Tesla was once the darling of the left. Helped to viability by a federal loan of $ 465 million during the Obama administration, the company popularized electric vehicles and proved, despite their early reputation, that they did not have to be small, lukewarm, undernourished and limited at range.
More recently, however, Musk combined with law. He bought the Twitter social network, renamed it X and erased restrictions that had furious conservatives. He spent around $ 250 million to stimulate Trump’s republican campaign in 2024, becoming his greatest benefactor by far.
Musk continues to direct Tesla – as well as X and the manufacturer of SpaceX rockets – while serving as a Trump advisor.
Tesla’s stock has doubled in the weeks that followed the Trump’s election, but have since lost all these earnings.
Trump gave the company a boost when he transformed the White House driveway into an electric vehicle exhibition hall. He promoted vehicles and said that he would buy an S model of $ 80,000, avoiding his eccentric criticism of electric vehicles.
Tesla did not respond to a request for comments. Musk briefly discussed vandalism on Monday during an appearance on the Podcast of Senator Ted Cruz, saying that “at least a part is organized and paid” by “leftist organizations in America, funded by leftist billionaires, essentially”.
“This level of violence is crazy and deeply bad,” Musk wrote on Tuesday on X, sharing a video from Burning Teslas in Las Vegas. “Tesla just does electric cars and did nothing to deserve these bad attacks.”
The indivisible progressive group, which has published a guide for supporters to organize “musk or us” demonstrations throughout the country, said in a statement that all of his advice is accessible to the public and “he explicitly encourages the peaceful protest and condemns any act of violence or vandalism”.
Some owners of Tesla have used cheeky stickers to distance themselves from the new stigma of their vehicle and perhaps dissuade potential vandals. They say things like “I bought that before we knew that Elon was crazy” or “I just wanted an electric car. Sorry guys. “
The prices of used cybertrucks, the most distinctive product of Tesla, fell by almost 8% since Trump took office, according to Cargurus, which brings together the lists of used car vehicles. The market as a whole remained stable during the period.
The White House promises a repression
The White House threw its weight behind Musk, the deepest member of Trump’s administration and a key donor of committees promoting Trump’s political interests. Trump said Tesla’s vandalism is equivalent to “domestic terror”, and Trump has threatened any reprisals, warning that those who target the business “will go through hell”.
Prosecutor General Pam Bondi said she had opened an investigation “to see how it is funded, who is behind it.”
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“If you are going to touch a Tesla, go to a dealership, do anything, you’d better be careful because we come after you,” said Bondi on Friday on Fox Business Network. In a statement on Tuesday, she swore to “continue investigations that impose serious consequences”, especially for “those who operate behind the scenes to coordinate and finance these crimes”.
Colin Clarke, principal researcher at Soufan Center, said that leftist political violence tended to target property rather than people. He considers the rise of neonazi groups as a larger security threat at this stage.
“This is not the type of act I would prioritize,” said Clarke. “Not for the moment compared to all the other threats that exist.”
Theresa Ramsdell is the president of Tesla owners of Washington’s state, a club for Tesla enthusiasts, and her and her husband have three.
“Hate Elon and Trump whatever you want-it’s good and Dandy, it’s your choice,” she said. “This does not justify ruin the property of someone, to vandalize it, to destroy it, to set it on fire. There are other ways to make your voice heard more effective.”
Someone recently slapped a “No Elon” sticker on the tailgate of its cybertruck, but she said that she did not intend to stop driving Teslas. Other club members have adopted a similar opinion, she said.
“I love my car. It’s the safest car,” said Ramsdell. “I’m not going to let someone else judge me about the car that I drive.”
Cooper reported to Phoenix.