The political gap in the United States continues to widen after Donald Trump’s second presidential victory is about to explode.
But few people can predict that the flash is an electric car.
Teslas have been burned by Molotov’s cocktails, tied with bullets and stained with swastikas. Now, the original luxury electric car showroom is immediately filled with blasphemy and Nazi symbols.
Tesla, once a darling of alternative energy advocates, is now an impossible target of political violence. Experts say that while the pickiness of a single vehicle is unusual, the company-focused activists have a long history in the United States.
No one was seriously hurt in the incident, but they intensified warnings about the way forward for law enforcement and political extremism.
“We have a series of activities and we rightly tolerate some of the activities we rightly tolerate, such as the enthusiastic and enthusiastic protests,” said Brian Levin, an emeritus professor at Cal State San Bernardino, an extremist expert. “But now we have reached another level of this directional arson and violence, and it is certainly a threatening effect.”
Tesla attacks have been spread and seem to be uncoordinated. One thing they seem to share, however, is the disdain of Telsa owner Elon Musk and his efforts to fire federal workers and reduce the size of the government.
After a series of Tulsa attacks in Las Vegas, Spencer Evans, a FBI agent in charge of the Las Vegas Bureau, issued a warning that it could be a possible political disruptor.
“Especially those who might think something like this is reasonable or may be admirable, we want you to know that it is a federal crime,” he said. “We will follow you, we will find you and sue you to the best of the law. I encourage anyone who thinks about something like this seriously.”
This is not the first time that companies or even car brands are targets of political protests, and sometimes intentional destruction.
protest Energy transfer construction of Dakota access pipeline in North Dakota In 2016 and 2017, bringing national attention and thousands of people to the months-long camp. The jury this week paid more than $660 million in damages to pipeline companies in order to file a lawsuit against environmental groups’ role in the protests.
In 2003, Militants catch fire at Chevrolet dealerships and destroy or defame dozens of Hummars There are other sport utility vehicles that have caught many people with the term “polluter”. The radical environmentalists association Earth Liberation Front claimed responsibility for the attack at the time, saying the attack was intended to take profit motives from the companies responsible for the pollution.
Suspected that the same group of people were involved in a fire that torn apart at a construction site in San Diego the same year. According to the 2003 Times Report.
“Over the past decade, ideological motivations from various fields and some unstable and trait-type militants have targeted not only their amplified attacks on tradition, government, communication and academic enterprises, but also strong corporate or defense industry goals, which they see as their political co-partners to their opponents,” Levin said.
During the Trump era, the United States’ attention to American political extremism has grown increasingly, especially after the riots attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, attempting to prevent Congress from proof of the election results.
On his first day of office, President Trump awarded more than 1,500 people absolutely or commuter charges or more than 1,500 people. Levine said pardons and efforts to protect Tesla have sent a conflicting message about how the Trump administration will respond to targeted political violence.
“You can’t do that in both directions,” Levin said. “If the Trump administration is going to talk about speeches, they need to walk on targeted violence. When making legal responses to targeted violence, you can’t just choose a specific ideology you like.”
Atti. General Pam Bondi tagged the attack on Tesla dealership this week as “nothing more than family terrorism.”
Bondi promises serious consequences for those involved in the Tesla attack, including “those who coordinate and fund these crimes behind the scenes.”
While domestic terrorism is defined in federal law, non-official criminal regulations are subject to specific fines. So far, those arrested in the attack have been charged with other federal regulations that could have a large amount of prison time.
Under federal regulations, the amount of conspiracy and malicious damage is held for at least five years in prison and sentenced to a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. The offence of possessing an unregistered vandal device can be punished for up to 10 years.
Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani said it is possible to file terrorist charges against Tesla’s attacks, but that’s not the way to file terrorist allegations in the past.
“Americans are not charged with terrorism because it is difficult to get into the head of criminal defendants and prove why they committed violence,” Rahmani said.
It’s not just the showroom to be alert. A website Dogequest, which allegedly released personal information from US Tesla owners in the United States, raised privacy and security issues for people who own electric vehicles. The website has since been cancelled.
Musk fired X on his social media platform, blaming the attacks on Democrats and others.
“Is there such coordinated violence for a peace company? I know I don’t want to buy a product, but it’s extreme arson and destruction!” Musk Written on X.
In San Diego, a man in dark clothes and a red turban sneaked into the Tesla showroom in Encinitas before 2 a.m. Monday, sprayed swastikas on eight vehicles and defiled the dealership windows with profane windows, the San Diego County sheriff said. Christie Ramirez.
Ramirez said investigators did not arrest any arrests.
Several dealerships defamed with Nazi symbols – Musk’s gestures apparently responded to a rally celebrating Trump’s inauguration. Musk denied that gestures were a tribute from the Nazis.
In Las Vegas, the FBI and Las Vegas Metro Police launched an investigation this week after defeating the Molotov cocktail and firing at least three-wheeled vehicles at the Tesla Crash Center at around 2:45 a.m. Tuesday.
Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren said several Teslas were engulfed in flames and the word “resistance” was sprayed onto building doors. A 911 caller reported seeing a man in black caught fire.
Authorities said at least five Tesla vehicles were damaged in the incident, and two of them were completely engulfed by the fire.
The FBI and the Alcohol Bureau, tobacco, guns and explosives are investigating a similar incident in Kansas City, Missouri, which emanated two Seber forces earlier Tuesday. Authorities say there is no contact with the Las Vegas attack so far.
There have been at least six similar vandals in Tesla showrooms across the country over the past few months.
On March 2, someone wiped it with a red spray-painted “No Musk” on the windows of a Tesla dealership in Owings Mills, Maryland.
In Tigard, Oregon, police are investigating after two fires opened at a Tesla dealership in about a week. In the first incident on March 6, someone fired at least seven rounds – damaging three cars and broken windows. According to police, a bullet passed through an office wall and entered a computer monitor.
“Luckily, it happened overnight,” the authorities wrote in a press release.
Police said in Seattle, in Didem, Massachusetts, four Seberaks who parked in Tesla plots were radiated.
In Lynnnwood, Washington, someone sprayed red S-knife on Cybertrucks at the Tesla Center parked in Tesla Center awaiting repairs.
Many investigations are still underway, but at least four people have been charged after the alleged destruction of Tesla property.
Adam Matthew Lansky, 41, of Salem, Oregon, was accused by the federal government of illegal possession of an unregistered destructive device after authorities said he allegedly tried to destroy Teslas at a local dealership with Molotov cocktails. Lansky also allegedly drove several rounds to the building and a vehicle, according to court records.
In Loveland, Colorado, the two were arrested after an attack on a Tesla dealership. Fort Collins’s Cooper Jo Frederick was charged with using and possessing explosive, second-degree arson, criminal mischief and attempted crime felony after police said the combustion device was ignited and threw it into the Tesla building and landed between two vehicles.
Lucy Grace Nelson, 42, of Lyon, Colorado, was charged with malicious damage to property after allegedly signaling a fire near the dealer’s Cybertruck and writing “Nazi” on the dealer’s sign, according to court records.
Daniel Clarke-pounder, 24, of South Carolina, was also charged this month with arson involving property involving interstate trade after prosecutors claimed he sprayed “F-Trump” and “Live Live Ukraine” on parking spaces used by people who accused his vehicles of using.
Authorities claimed he pulled out five Molotov cocktails and threw them onto the charger, damaging the device. Prosecutors said he would face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Separated from the violence, peaceful protesters mobilized across the country in Tesla dealerships.
This month, a group of women who call themselves “Grandma’s Brigade” gathered outside Tesla’s showroom and service center, Pullman Street in Costa Mesa this month to oppose Musk’s involvement in the federal government.
“Perhaps if we hit back economically, we will be able to prove that we can’t buy millions of dollars from a wealthy person,” said Debbie Marsteller, one of the group members.
But Maasteller was shocked by the destruction others had on the dealer.
“People put Nazi swastikas on Tesla cars…it’s ridiculous to me,” she said. “It doesn’t help.”
