OAN Staff Blake Wolf
12:06 PM – Tuesday, April 1, 2025
A Texas man is suing a vandal for over $1 million after his Model X Tesla was keyed while parked at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
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Rafael Hernandez, the suspected vandal, was arrested on March 22nd on a charge of criminal mischief by the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office.
Video footage recorded by the car’s built-in camera shows Hernandez walking next to the Tesla while scraping a key along the vehicle.
The Tesla owner, who wished to remain anonymous, told Fox News Digital that Hernandez’s “acts were intentional — it is for a judge and jury to decide, based on the facts, what his punishment should be. I believe strongly that I was targeted because my car is a Tesla.”
“I didn’t even realize that this nationwide Tesla attack was even a thing — until I was thrown into that world. What’s important to me is that it happened, it was intentional, and it was wrong. As a result, I’ve been thrown into a nightmare, and I don’t want this to happen to anyone else,” the victim continued.
“It’s just kind of mind-boggling to me that there are people who are so triggered and so disturbed by anything these days that they can go so far as to just cause harm to somebody.”
Meanwhile, the lawsuit states that “Individual owners of Tesla vehicles, like Plaintiff, are being targeted and victimized by ongoing criminal conduct and action. This has culminated in the ‘Tesla Takedown’ movement, where certain activists are urging consumers to divest from Tesla products and are organizing protests and other activities that are explicitly or implicitly urging physical damage and/or violence against Tesla owners and/or their Tesla vehicles. Plaintiff recently became a target and victim of this criminal conduct and action.”
The attack comes as demonstrators protested at over 500 Tesla locations worldwide on Saturday, dubbed the “Global Day of Action” to protest Elon Musk’s involvement in the firing of federal workers.
“Whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat, this is a free country. You’re entitled to drive whatever you want, as long as it’s legal and within the confines of the law, and you should feel safe and secure in doing so, which, in my opinion, is why the authorities on the law enforcement side are taking these cases very seriously,” stated Majed Nachawaiti, the attorney representing the Tesla owner.
“It’s a slippery slope, where does it end? Right? Fortunately, you know, my client’s car was keyed. He wasn’t injured himself, and he wasn’t in the vehicle. But others haven’t been so lucky, and so if this continues, you know, it’s a fine line between having a civil society and chaos,” he added.
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