The Justice Division charged a 19-year-old with “firebombing” Cybertrucks in Kansas.
The federal government charged Owen McIntire, 19, with one rely of illegal possession of an unregistered damaging machine and one rely of malicious injury by hearth, the Justice Division stated.
McIntire made his first courtroom look on Friday, but it surely was unclear if he had but secured an lawyer.
Protesters indignant with Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s work with the White Home DOGE Workplace to cut back authorities spending and reduce workers have attacked a number of Tesla amenities throughout america in current weeks. Musk has stated DOGE seeks to reduce at the very least $1 trillion from the federal price range. Its efforts are actually the topic of a number of lawsuits.
Knowledge from Cox Automotive exhibits that used Tesla listings reached a document excessive in March. The firm’s inventory value has additionally plummeted. And coordinated protests focusing on Tesla occurred throughout the nation late final month.
Two weeks earlier than these protests, on March 17, the Justice Division stated officers of the Kansas Metropolis Police Division in Missouri noticed smoke coming from a Cybertruck parked at a Tesla dealership. The officers noticed an unbroken Molotov cocktail close to the smoking truck. The officer recovered the Molotov cocktail, however the hearth nonetheless unfold to a second Cybertruck.
Lawyer Basic Pamela Bondi beforehand stated the Justice Division would search 20 years in jail for one more man accused of attacking a Tesla dealership in Colorado.
Bondi stated that the Kansas Metropolis incident ought to function one other reminder that “anybody who nonetheless needs to firebomb a Tesla property: you’ll not evade us.”
“You can be arrested. You can be prosecuted. You’ll spend a long time behind bars. It’s not value it,” Bondi stated. One of many expenses McIntire faces carries a most penalty of 20 years.
FBI Director Kash Patel stated within the Justice Division press launch that that is the second arrest of a suspect focusing on Tesla this week, which is “extra proof that the FBI won’t stand for these damaging acts.”
“These actions are harmful, they’re unlawful, and we’re going to arrest these accountable,” Patel stated.
The Justice Division says the 2 broken Cybertrucks had a mixed sale value of $212,970. The fireplace additionally broken two charging stations, which had been valued at $550 every.
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