FBI investigating attacks targeting Tesla dealerships and cars
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Burned Teslas are shown at a Tesla collision center after an individual used incendiary devices to set several vehicles on fire in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Tuesday. Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
The FBI is investigating attacks targeting Tesla vehicles and dealerships of the EV company and related swatting incidents, bureau deputy director Dan Bongino said Wednesday night.
Why it matters: There's been a spate of such incidents that President Trump and other administration officials have denounced as acts of "domestic terrorism" amid #TeslaTakedown protests at the role of Tesla CEO Elon Musk in the DOGE-driven cuts to the federal workforce and agencies.
- Attorney General Pam Bondi has threatened "severe consequences" for anyone involved in vandalizing Tesla vehicles.
- Meanwhile, Musk's role as senior adviser to the president appears to have hit the company's sales in the first quarter of this year and some Tesla owners have posted bumper stickers on their cars to distance themselves from the billionaire.
State of play: "Our teams are actively working on the Tesla incidents and the swatting incidents, along with our other responsibilities to keep the Homeland safe," said the newly sworn-in Bongino on X.
- Swatting is a form of harassment that involves making a hoax call to emergency services in an attempt to have a large number of armed police officers dispatched to a particular address.
- Musk expressed "shock" on Fox News Tuesday over the attacks following multiple reports of Tesla vehicles being burned or dealerships being vandalized across the U.S. in recent weeks.
Zoom in: The FBI is investigating as a potential act of terrorism the targeting of a Tesla collision center in Las Vegas on Tuesday that resulted in several vehicles set on fire and the word "Resist" spray-painted on the building.
- A person dressed in black "approached the business with incendiary devices," per a Las Vegas Police Department statement.
- "The individual used the devices to set multiple Tesla vehicles on fire. One incendiary device was recovered inside a vehicle un-detonated. It is also believed the individual fired at least three rounds from a firearm at vehicles."
- The FBI is also working with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Kansas City Missouri Police Department "to investigate an overnight incident in which Cyber Trucks at a Tesla Dealership in south Kansas City were damaged," per a Facebook post from the bureau's Kansas City field office Tuesday.
Zoom out: The #TeslaTakedown movement is a global one and vandals have targeted dealerships and vehicles in several countries, including Canada where the Vancouver International Auto Show removed a Tesla exhibit from this week's event due to safety concerns.
Go deeper: Tesla turmoil ignites political proxy war
Editor's note: This article has been updated with more details of vandalism and further context.
