- A 19-year-old has been charged with firebombing Cybertrucks at a Tesla dealership.
- There has been a spate of attacks on Tesla to protest CEO Elon Musk's role in the government.
- The Justice Department has warned it would pursue severe penalties for attacks on Tesla properties.
The Justice Department charged a 19-year-old with "firebombing" Cybertrucks in Kansas.
The government charged Owen McIntire, 19, with one count of unlawful possession of an unregistered destructive device and one count of malicious damage by fire, the Justice Department said.
McIntire made his first court appearance on Friday, but it was unclear if he had yet secured an attorney.
Protesters angry with Tesla CEO Elon Musk's work with the White House DOGE Office to reduce government spending and cut staff have attacked several Tesla facilities across the United States in recent weeks. Musk has said DOGE seeks to cut at least $1 trillion from the federal budget. Its efforts are now the subject of several lawsuits.
Data from Cox Automotive shows that used Tesla listings reached a record high in March. The company's stock price has also plummeted. And coordinated protests targeting Tesla took place across the country late last month.
Two weeks before those protests, on March 17, the Justice Department said officers of the Kansas City Police Department in Missouri saw smoke coming from a Cybertruck parked at a Tesla dealership. The officers saw an unbroken Molotov cocktail near the smoking truck. The officer recovered the Molotov cocktail, but the fire still spread to a second Cybertruck.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi previously said the Justice Department would seek 20 years in prison for another man accused of attacking a Tesla dealership in Colorado.
Bondi said that the Kansas City incident should serve as another reminder that "anyone who still wants to firebomb a Tesla property: you will not evade us."
"You will be arrested. You will be prosecuted. You will spend decades behind bars. It is not worth it," Bondi said. One of the charges McIntire faces carries a maximum penalty of 20 years.
FBI Director Kash Patel said in the Justice Department press release that this is the second arrest of a suspect targeting Tesla this week, which is "more proof that the FBI will not stand for these destructive acts."
"These actions are dangerous, they are illegal, and we are going to arrest those responsible," Patel said.
The Justice Department says the two damaged Cybertrucks had a combined sale price of $212,970. The fire also damaged two charging stations, which were valued at $550 each.
