Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says he’s shocked by the rising variety of protests against his electric vehicle company.
During an interview with Fox News’ host Sean Hannity on Tuesday, the tech billionaire said “it’s really come as quite a shock to me that there’s this level of hatred and violence from the left.”
“I assumed the left, you already know, Democrats, were imagined to be the party of empathy, the party of caring. And yet they’re burning down cars. They’re firebombing dealerships. They’re firing bullets into dealerships. They’re just smashing up Teslas,” he said.
“Tesla is a peaceful company, we’ve never done anything harmful, I’ve never done anything harmful, I’ve only done productive things,” he continued, before calling the attacks “deranged,” and claiming there have to be “some form of mental illness occurring.”
Musk also alluded to “larger forces at work.”
“Who’s funding it and who’s coordinating it?” he concluded.
There isn’t a evidence pointing to widespread coordination, and there was no confirmation of the political affiliations involved within the protests.
Musk’s remarks were in response to a hearth at a Tesla collision centre in Las Vegas.
In line with Las Vegas police, officers arrived at about 2:45 a.m. Tuesday to several burning vehicles and the word “resist” spray-painted on the front of the business.
At the least five vehicles were damaged from the flames, two of which were fully engulfed.
Police say the suspect used Molotov cocktails and a firearm to conduct the attack, with evidence suggesting that at the least three rounds of ammunition were fired into vehicles. An unexploded Molotov cocktail was also recovered from the crime scene.
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“This appears to be a targeted attack on a #Tesla facility. There isn’t a ongoing threat, but out of an abundance of caution, we’ve got increased patrols around Tesla locations,” Las Vegas police shared on X, along side footage of the fires.
The FBI is currently investigating and says it will not be ruling out the potential for terrorism.
Special Agent Spencer Evans told reporters that the incident “has among the hallmarks” of a terrorist attack, but that it was too early within the investigation to make certain.
“One thing that I wanted to focus on and make crystal clear, especially in light of reporting that’s been ongoing across the country about similar incidents, targeted attacks at Tesla facilities, is that violent acts like this are unacceptable no matter where they occur,” he said.
“To those that think that something like that is justifiable or potentially even admirable, we would like to let you already know that it’s a federal crime, we’ll come after you, we’ll find you and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law,” he continued, adding that anyone considering an identical act should think twice.
The Las Vegas incident is the most recent in a series of Tesla attacks within the U.S and beyond its borders.
On Monday night, two Tesla Cybertrucks were burned at a dealership in Kansas City, Missouri.
Police said an officer spotted a Cybertruck on fire on the dealership shortly before midnight on March 17. The officer tried to make use of a hearth extinguisher before having to call the Kansas City Fire Department to help as the fireplace spread.
Last week, 4 vehicles were set on fire in Berlin, Germany. Similarly, on March 13, gunshots were fired at a Tesla dealership in Oregon for the second time in per week, causing extensive damage to cars and showroom windows, The Associated Press reported.
On March 8, footage captured during protests at a Manhattan Tesla showroom shows police removing numerous demonstrators from contained in the premises, where glass doors had been shattered.
Protestors also gathered outside the ability and might be heard chanting, “We want clean air, not one other billionaire.”
Six people were arrested, five for disorderly conduct and one for resisting arrest, in keeping with media reports.
In Toulouse, France, 12 Tesla vehicles were set on fire outside a dealership on March 5, destroying eight and severely damaging 4. Authorities have since opened a criminal investigation.
The identical day, seven Tesla charging stations at a mall in Littleton, Mass., about 60 km outside of Boston, were burned, causing heavy damage and sending up plumes of thick smoke.
— With files from Global News’ Michelle Butterfield
