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DOJ Seeks Five-Year Minimum Sentences for Tesla Property Damage
Federal prosecutors have filed charges against at least three people for allegedly damaging Tesla property.
This is a breaking news story and may be updated.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced on Tuesday that the Department of Justice has filed charges against people who allegedly damaged Tesla property. Tesla is Elon Musk’s car company.
The DOJ did not immediately respond to requests for further information. Bondi did not say how many people had been charged or what they had been charged with.
“The swarm of violent attacks on Tesla property is nothing short of domestic terrorism,” Bondi said in a press release. “The Department of Justice has already charged several perpetrators with that in mind, including in cases that involve charges with five-year mandatory minimum sentences.”
Federal court records show that U.S. Attorneys in Colorado, South Carolina, and Oregon have filed charges for malicious destruction of property against three people arrested for allegedly damaging Tesla property in separate cases.
In Colorado, a woman allegedly sprayed graffiti on a Tesla dealership sign before attempting to use a Molotov cocktail to burn a Cybertruck in February. In South Carolina, a man allegedly spray-painted anti-Trump slogans and unsuccessfully attempted to light a Tesla charger on fire on March 7. If convicted, both face between five and 20 years in federal prison.
In Oregon, court records show that federal prosecutors charged a man with possession of an unregistered explosive device, which carries a sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison. The complaint alleges that the man shot empty vehicles at a Tesla dealership in Salem, Oregon, and threw Molotov cocktails into the dealership lot in two separate incidents in January and February.
None of the incidents involved deaths or injuries. According to the Guardian, federal agents are investigating separate vandalism incidents in Nevada, Oregon, and Missouri.
Bondi said the DOJ will impose “severe consequences” on those involved.
Last week, President Donald Trump held an unusual press conference at the White House promoting Tesla vehicles in a bid to boost the company’s plummeting stocks. Musk is Trump’s biggest individual donor.
At that press conference, Trump pledged to charge Tesla protesters as “domestic terrorists.”
“We’re going to catch them,” Trump said. “You do it to Tesla and you do it to any company, we’re going to catch you and you’re going to go through hell.
Protesters have gathered across the country in recent weeks to decry Musk’s role in Washington, where he leads the Department of Government Efficiency. Musk’s department has fired thousands of federal workers, ended social security for some elderly Americans, and cut U.S. aid programs, including one that provides children with H.I.V. with lifesaving medical care.
The “Tesla Takedown” movement describes itself as a peaceful protest movement aimed at demonstrating outside Tesla dealerships to “stop Musk’s illegal coup.” The movement says it opposes violence, vandalism, and the destruction of property. None of the persons facing federal charges have documented connections to the “Tesla Takedown” movement.