Tesla vandalized and violently protested against Elon Musk’s anger
She came with four Smirnoff Ice bottles filled with gasoline, threw them at electric vehicles parked around the dealership and watched as they burned. She brought four Smirnoff Ice bottle filled with gasoline and hurled them at the electric cars parked in the lot. She then watched as the vehicles burned. According to court documents she also ignited a molotov near a Tesla Cybertruck. Nelson’s attorney declined to comment. She allegedly also used red spray paint to scrawl a message: “F— Musk” on the entrance doors of the car dealership. Elon Musk, Trump’s most prominent backer, is also a conservative provocateur. These incidents have occurred as Elon has risen to prominence. In March, vandals set fire to several Tesla superchargers in a Littleton shopping center, Massachusetts. Vandals spray-painted the words “No Musk” and a swastika symbol on a Tesla building in Maryland. A man wielding a semiautomatic AR-style weapon shot at the Tesla storefront of Salem, Oregon in February. Investigators claim that just a few short weeks before, this man had attacked the same Tesla dealership, throwing molotov cocktail at Tesla cars and through the window. He caused an estimated $500,000 in damages, according to court documents.
The destruction adds to the woes of a carmaker already in turmoil. The stock price has dropped by over 35 percent since Trump was inaugurated, and the company’s sales have been down for the first time in more than 10 years. According to data released on Wednesday, Tesla sales in Germany fell by 76 per cent from a year ago. And some owners have expressed buyer’s remorse over owning a car some now see as a symbol of far-right politics, a stark departure from the environmental consciousness it once epitomized.
Ross Gerber, a longtime Tesla investor and Musk critic, said the reports of destruction against Tesla storefronts, cars and superchargers could create a “chilling effect.” Customers “may not want to associate … with Elon and deal with vandalism,” he said.
The billionaire’s car company is no stranger to public ire. The Tesla car company has been the target of public ire before. Around 800 environmentalists tried to storm the factory a few months later. Musk has been the subject of criticism from some employees and investors who fear that his association with Trump will harm beyond repair both the company’s mission and reputation. He has formed relationships with extreme-right politicians across Europe and even made a Nazi salute-like gesture. Demonstrators have gathered outside Tesla showrooms across the United States to protest Musk’s dramatic cuts to federal government through the U.S. DOGE Service.
“Whether it is politically motivated or not, arson and destruction of property is not the way to get your point across,” said Matthew Pinard, the police chief of Littleton, where several Tesla chargers were lit on fire this week.
Musk and Tesla did not return requests for comment. In response to a photo posted on social media of a supercharger spray-painted with the word “Nazi” last month, an official Tesla social media account said the company “will press charges for vandalism at Superchargers.”
Charred Tesla
Adam Choi and his wife were leaving church Sunday morning in Brookline, Massachusetts, when they noticed their Tesla had been vandalized with a sticker of Musk in his now notorious raised-arm pose. Choi, 37 spotted the suspect vandal and pulled out his cellphone. He asked him, “Why do you believe you have the rights to do that?” The video was shared with The Post. Choi called the Brookline Police Department, who have since identified the man but have not made an arrest.
In response to Choi’s video, shared by the Brookline police on X, Musk chimed in: “Damaging the property of others, aka vandalism, is not free speech,” he wrote.
Damaging the property of others, aka vandalism, is not free speech!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 4, 2025
The incident is being investigated as an act of arson, but no suspect has been identified. The incident is being investigated as an act of arson, but no suspect has been identified.
Elsewhere across the country, the vandalism has sometimes taken a terrorizing turn.
In the early morning hours of Inauguration Day, a Tesla driver charging his vehicle near a dealership in Salem, Oregon, saw a man in black brandishing what appeared to be an AR-style rifle. According to a federal complaint, he saw the man throw an AR-style rifle and light up an object. He then continued to throw what looked like molotov cocktail at other Tesla cars parked nearby. The driver unplugged his car and started driving away. Lansky, according to the complaint dropped an ignited molotov cocktail while pointing his gun at the man in the Tesla. Court documents include photos of the damages, including a charred Tesla and a broken store window. According to the complaint, seven Teslas were damaged, and one was destroyed. Lansky, who was arrested on Tuesday and is currently in jail pending charges and his arraignment, allegedly returned to the same dealership a few weeks later and shot at the storefront and parked vehicle inside. His lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.
Brand worries
The violent acts come as Musk courts controversy on the national stage. The billionaire, who used to stay out of politics, was more focused on creating a sustainable future for Tesla and sending rockets to space with SpaceX, his other company. Gerber, a Tesla investor, believes Musk’s anti-Tesla activism and polarizing politics are hurting the brand. Musk’s huge bet on Trump will pay off, say some, despite the backlash towards Tesla. Investors and analysts expect that the electric vehicle company will benefit significantly from streamlined regulation on autonomous driving, which Musk has said is critical for the future of the company.
Dan Ives, global head of technology research at Wedbush Securities, said that even though Musk and Trump’s relationship has created “major brand worries for Tesla,” it will ultimately benefit.
“Some of these distraction issues will fade,” he said Thursday in an investors note. “The best thing that ever happened to Musk and Tesla was Trump in the White House as this will create a deregulatory environment with a federal autonomous roadmap central to the Tesla golden strategic vision.”
Meanwhile, however, local law enforcement officials worry it’s a matter of time before someone becomes seriously injured in violence against Teslas. Nelson, who is also listed in court documents as Justin Thomas Nelson, is estimated to have caused at least $5,000 in damage at the Colorado dealership, documents show.
“Whether you like Musk or you don’t, this is not the right way to do it,” said Paul Campbell, deputy superintendent of the Brookline Police Department. “We are all adults who learn from a young age not to touch anything that doesn’t belong us.” He said that while he understood the anger against Musk for his aggressive changes in the federal workforce, it was still “shocking” and “disturbing” to see his car vandalized. Choi believes that the
attack was intended to send a clear message to Elon. The message I received was that I had been penalized for buying a green vehicle.
