Tesla CEO Elon Musk condemned the latest attack on his electric vehicle company as an act of “terrorism” after Nevada police confirmed a “targeted attack” on a Tesla facility in Las Vegas.
Early Tuesday morning, a suspect dressed in black used Molotov cocktails and a firearm to carry out the attack on a Tesla Collision Center, according to the FBI and Nevada authorities. The suspect also spray-painted “RESIST” on the building.
“This level of violence is insane and deeply wrong. Tesla just makes electric cars and has done nothing to deserve these evil attacks,” Musk said in a post to X, later calling the incident “terrorism.”
The suspect fired three rounds into different Tesla vehicles, damaging a total of five cars, including two that were engulfed in flames, according to Las Vegas Police Department assistant sheriff Dori Koren’s press briefing Tuesday afternoon.
“This was a targeted attack on the Tesla facility,” Koren said. “We do believe it was isolated”
“We’re not ignoring the fact that there are clear factors of this that were politically motivated; we are going to investigate all aspects of this,” Koren continued.
The incident is under a joint investigation by Las Vegas police and the FBI. The FBI’s joint terrorism task force is investigating the attack to determine whether it was an act of terror, according to Spencer Evans, the special agent in charge for the FBI’s Las Vegas division.
Evans said during the Tuesday briefing that the incident “certainly has some of the hallmarks” of an act of terrorism. When pressed on whether the attack was politically motivated, Evans noted there had been a nationwide uptick in crimes against Tesla that had been in part motivated by “a political bias that is absolutely unacceptable.”
“Violent acts like this are unacceptable regardless of where they occur, and specifically to those who think something like this is justifiable or potentially even admirable, we want you to let know this is a federal crime and we will come after you and find you and prosecute you to the fullest account of the law,” Evans said.
BONDI OPENS INVESTIGATION INTO TESLA VANDALISM
Last week, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that the Department of Justice opened an investigation into multiple acts of vandalism against Tesla dealerships, vehicles, and charging stations. The attacks include gunshots and Nazi slurs that have shaken Tesla for nearly two months as vandals upset over Musk’s involvement with the Department of Government Efficiency target his company.
Many Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), have expressed outrage over DOGE, with the Arizona senator recently announcing he was selling his Tesla after Musk called him a “traitor.”
