Tesla under siege: Arson, vandalism, and political backlash

Attacks surge across Europe and the US as Elon Musk's ties to Trump administration ignite fury

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Mar 19, 2025

With anger rising about the policies of U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration, one private automaker has become a lightning rod for opponents to vent their frustration.

Tesla, the electric car manufacturer led by billionaire Elon Musk, has been targeted in a range of recent incidents that have included protests outside dealerships, cars being smashed and set on fire, bullets being fired at vehicles, and damage to buildings associated with the brand.

The world’s richest person is the CEO of the electric car company, but is also working as an advisor to Trump and heading the newly created Department of Government Efficiency — or DOGE.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi called the spate of attacks on dealerships “domestic terrorism”, and promised that the full force of the law would come down on those involved.

Tesla under siege

Las Vegas police probe arson, vandalism at Tesla store

Police in Las Vegas arrived at a Tesla centre in the early hours of March 18 to find vehicles on fire and the word ‘RESIST’ sprayed on the front of the business.

At least five Tesla vehicles were damaged, two fully burnt out, police said, adding that the suspect used Molotov cocktails and a firearm in the attack.

“Evidence suggests at least three rounds were fired into vehicles. An unexploded Molotov cocktail has been recovered and is being processed,” the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said. They increased patrols around Tesla locations due to the fact that this appeared to be a targeted incident.

Flames erupt outside Tesla in Kansas City

A social media user posted on Monday night, March 17, saying they had just driven by their local dealership, and included a clip showing flames engulfing a car outside the building.

They said: “Barely caught footage of girl in black dress running away!!”

The building and the geographical markers around it, including the garage across the road near where the person is seen running, can be confirmed via Google Street View.

Authorities in Kansas City confirmed they were investigating the incident as a possible arson. The fire damaged two Tesla Cybertrucks.

Shots fired at Oregon Tesla dealership

On March 6, a person fired shots at a Tesla dealership in Tigard, Oregon, shattering windows and damaging vehicles.

Investigators believed at least seven shots were fired at the building, hitting three cars, a computer monitor, and the glass front of the business.

“While the motivation for this has not been confirmed, we are aware that other Tesla dealerships have been targeted across Oregon and the nation for political reasons,” Tigard police said in a statement.

Tesla keyed in San Jose

A man was arrested on Monday, March 17, accused of keying a white Tesla that was parked at a Costco in the San Jose area of California.

Footage of the incident went viral, and showed a man parking his vehicle beside the Tesla before getting out and scratching the neighbouring car’s passenger-side door with a key.

The video was widely shared on social media and could not be immediately verified. However, San Jose police confirmed they made an arrest for ‘felony vandalism’ based on the security camera footage from the Tesla itself.

A statement from the San Jose police chief, Paul Joseph, said: “This senseless crime and its subsequent consequences should serve as a clear reminder: no matter one’s personal beliefs or frustrations, they do not justify illegal actions.”

Anti-Tesla activism spreads outside U.S.

Vancouver car show shuns Tesla amid animosity

Tesla was removed from the lineup at the Vancouver International Auto Show this week due to safety concerns, organisers said, as protests against Elon Musk’s car brand began escalating in the past week.

The event’s executive director said on March 18 that they asked Tesla to withdraw, citing a “primary concern” for the safety of workers and attendees at the event.

It came after a wave of weekend ‘Tesla Takedown’ protests across Canada, and amid increasing hostilities between Canada and the Trump administration, which has talked of making the country the “51st U.S. state”.

Most of the weekend protests across Canada involved demonstrations near dealerships, but in one case, Tesla superchargers in northern Nanaimo near Vancouver were out of order after they went on fire.

A local news report citing Nanaimo Fire Rescue said the chargers were allegedly tampered with, as it appeared they were broken apart, but no accelerant was found around the area. Authorities warned electric car drivers to carefully check any charging stations they intended to use, in case they had been interfered with.

Tesla vandalism in Belfast

Protest-related activity around Tesla dealerships has not been limited to North America.

Police in Northern Ireland said that around 20 vehicles were damaged at a dealership in Belfast on Sunday, March 16.

“Approximately twenty vehicles have been targeted. Most have had their wing mirrors knocked off, while others have also had windows smashed or received dents to the bodywork,” said Sergeant Rooney.

Although the police statement did not mention Tesla by name, the dealership was widely reported in the media as being a Tesla one.

Protests in London

Protests against Elon Musk also recently reached London, where demonstrators gathered near a Tesla centre on March 15 urging passersby to ‘Honk If You Hate Elon’, ‘Don’t Buy Nazi Cars’, and ‘Enough Fascist Nonsense’.

That protest came just a few days after a Just Stop Oil protest in London, which saw two activists pour orange liquid latex over a Tesla robot.

Paint and arson in France

Tesla’s French headquarters was splattered with white paint in Saint-Ouen near Paris over the weekend, in an incident widely suspected — although not confirmed — to be linked to Elon Musk’s political activity.

In an earlier incident in France, 12 Tesla cars were burned in a fire near Toulouse in the car park at the brand’s dealership. A local official said an arson investigation was under way into the incident on the night of March 2-3.

No motive was provided by police, but a magistrate from the local public prosecutor’s office told AFP that it was “not at all accidental”.

Nazi graffiti at Belgian Tesla dealership

Swastikas and other Nazi imagery were painted around the Tesla dealership in Awans, a town in the Belgian province of Liège.

The mayor of Awans, Thibaud Smolders, said: “As mayor, I obviously denounce and condemn this offence, even if as a human being I can only support those who fight against the extreme right.”

The Nazi imagery appeared to be a reference to Elon Musk’s recent use of a salute on stage after President Trump’s inauguration, which was roundly criticised for its resemblance to the Nazi or fascist-style salute.

Cars set alight amid sales slump in Germany

Several Tesla owners in Berlin woke up on March 14 to find their cars burnt out in what police suspected was a targeted arson attack.

Three Tesla cars were set alight on various streets in Berlin-Steglitz in the southwest of the city, after another fire incident in the Berlin-Plänterwald neighbourhood earlier in the evening.

RBB cited police as saying the Tesla vehicles were set on fire in the early hours of the morning and led to damage in five other cars that were parked nearby. The State Security Service took over responsibility for the probe, and were not ruling out a political motive.

Operations at a Tesla factory in Grünheide outside Berlin were affected earlier in March after people set fire to a power pole in a nearby field, which supplied power to the plant. A left-wing group that calls itself ‘Volcano group shutting down Tesla’ claimed responsibility for the suspected arson attack.

The incidents took place amid Tesla’s dramatic sales slump in Germany. In February, sales of the brand’s cars fell by over 76% — despite the overall growth in the electric car market, local media reported.

‘Domestic terrorism’

Back in the U.S., Attorney General Pam Bondi labelled the recent uptick in attacks on Tesla facilities as “domestic terrorism” targeting Elon Musk.

“The swarm of violent attacks on Tesla property is nothing short of domestic terrorism. We will continue investigations that impose severe consequences on those involved in these attacks, including those operating behind the scenes to coordinate and fund these crimes,” said Bondi.

Since anti-Tesla sentiment began its upward trend, the White House appeared to acknowledge that the protests were linked to Musk’s involvement in the Trump administration.

On March 11, Donald Trump posted on his platform Truth Social that Musk was “putting it on the line in order to help our Nation”, and lambasted the “Radical Left Lunatics” who are, he said, “trying to illegally and collusively boycott Tesla, one of the World’s great automakers, and Elon’s ‘baby’, in order to attack and do harm to Elon, and everything he stands for”.

Trump added that he was “going to buy a brand new Tesla tomorrow morning as a show of confidence and support for Elon Musk, a truly great American”.

The president’s suggestion that a boycott of Tesla was “illegal” drew amused and incredulous reactions on social media. Under the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment, Americans have a protected right to protest private businesses.

Nevertheless, in a bid to boost Tesla sales, Trump hosted Elon Musk and a range of Tesla models on the south lawn of the White House, where he was filmed sitting into the cars and loudly admiring them in view of the press.

Tesla shares have taken a heavy hit since before Trump’s inauguration, further compounding the company’s hardship amid plummeting sales. Tesla owners, meanwhile, were reported to be taking measures to disguise their cars with non-Tesla brand badges and bumper stickers clarifying their car choice is unrelated to their politics.

With Elon Musk staying in his roles as CEO of both Tesla and SpaceX while leading Trump’s agency dedicated to dismantling parts of the federal government, the story of the potential conflict of interest at the heart of the White House shows no sign of abating.

SOURCES

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