The Justice Department announced Thursday that “severe” federal charges have been brought against three individuals who allegedly burned Tesla cars and charging stations in recent weeks to protest Elon Musk’s work in the Trump administration.
President Donald Trump recently warned that politically motivated violence committed against Tesla property would be considered domestic terrorism. A week later, Attorney General Pam Bondi echoed Trump’s categorization of the attacks.
“The days of committing crimes without consequence have ended,” Bondi said in a statement Thursday afternoon. “Let this be a warning: if you join this wave of domestic terrorism against Tesla properties, the Department of Justice will put you behind bars.”
The three defendants hail from Oregon, Colorado, and South Carolina. Each have been charged for throwing Molotov cocktails at Tesla’s dealerships, electric vehicles, and charging stations. The charges carry a maximum penalty of five to 20 years in prison, the Justice Department says.
One, who was armed with a suppressed AR-15 rifle, was arrested after allegedly throwing about eight Molotov cocktails at a Tesla dealership in Salem, Ore.
The second suspect was arrested after allegedly setting Teslas ablaze with Molotov cocktails in Loveland, Colo. The individual also possessed materials used for explosives or other incendiary devices.
The third person is accused of writing profane messages invoking Trump around Tesla charging stations in Charleston, S.C., before lighting the stations on fire.
Although Bondi did not provide the names of the individuals or the specific charges, past press releases from U.S. attorney’s offices in the three states suggest the perpetrators were Adam Matthew Lansky, 41; Lucy Grace Nelson (also known as Justin Thomas Nelson), 42; and Daniel Brendan Kurt Clarke-Pounder, 24. The Justice Department confirmed those identities to National Review.
Musk, who owns Tesla, has faced backlash from the left for his role in the White House as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency. Democratic lawmakers also take issue with Musk as DOGE continues to cut waste, fraud, and abuse at the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Internal Revenue Service, and numerous other executive agencies and departments.
Last week, Trump said he would not tolerate violent Tesla protesters “harming a great American company” and called them “domestic terrorists.”
“Those people are going to go through a big problem when we catch them. We’ve got a lot of cameras up, we already know who some of them are. We’re going to catch them. And they’re bad guys. They’re the same guys that screw around with our schools and universities, the same garbage,” Trump declared.
“And, no, we’re going to catch them. And let me tell you, you do it to Tesla, and you do it to any company, we’re going to catch you, and you’re going to go through hell.”
Tesla has taken a substantial hit to its business, with the electric vehicle company’s shares falling 35 percent in the last month and 42 percent so far this year. The company also recalled more than 46,000 Cybertrucks this week due to a defect that poses a potentially dangerous road hazard and increased risk for crashes.
Tesla’s decline was mocked by Governor Tim Walz (D., Minn.), the former vice presidential candidate for Kamala Harris.
“If you need a boost during the day, check out Tesla stock,” Walz wrote on X.
Despite the political backlash, Trump and his administration are standing beside Musk. During a car display in front of the White House, the president bought a red Tesla Model S at full price to show support to the tech billionaire. Additionally, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick used a recent Fox News appearance to recommend that Americans buy Tesla’s “cheap” stock.