By Steve Neavling
The FBI is investigating a series of attacks on Tesla facilities, including an arson at a Las Vegas showroom where Molotov cocktails ignited several vehicles.
The agency’s Joint Terrorism Task Force is considering whether the incidents amount to domestic terrorism, the Guardian reports.
Security footage from the Las Vegas attack early Tuesday showed a suspect dressed in black throwing incendiary devices at parked Teslas. Police also found the word “resist” spray-painted on the building and shell casings from gunfire. Five vehicles were damaged, two of them engulfed in flames.
FBI Special Agent Spencer Evans said investigators are weighing possible political motives.
“Was this terrorism, was it something else?” Evans said. “It certainly has some of the hallmarks that we might think – you know, the writing on the wall, the potential political agenda, there’s an act of violence. So, none of those factors are lost on us.”
The Las Vegas firebombing is one of at least four similar attacks across the country under FBI investigation. Molotov cocktails have been hurled at Tesla locations in Missouri, Oregon, and Colorado, while the ATF is probing an attack on a Tesla charging station in South Carolina.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk called the arson “terrorism” in a social media post, blaming the “woke mind parasite” for the attacks. President Donald Trump, who recently appeared with Musk at a White House event, vowed to designate the vandalism as domestic terrorism.
The attacks come amid growing backlash against Musk, whose federal cost-cutting efforts and political ties have sparked controversy. FBI officials say violence against Tesla properties has been rising, with reports of vandalism, anti-Musk graffiti, and sabotage at charging stations.
“There’s certainly, nationwide, been an uptick in folks who feel empowered to commit acts of violence. In this case, against Tesla facilities and vehicles and their owners,” Evans said. “That is absolutely unacceptable.”
