Molotov cocktails, gun used to destroy Tesla cars at Las Vegas facility, police say
Las Vegas police are searching for a suspect after several cars were set ablaze at a Tesla service center Tuesday morning.
At least five Tesla vehicles were damaged in what police are calling a "targeted attack" at a Tesla Collision Center, including two cars that were entirely engulfed in flames.
In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) said they received several reports of flames at the collision center around 2:45 a.m. local time. When they responded, officers allegedly found the word "RESIST” spray painted in red on the building and several cars on fire.
The department's counter-terrorism detectives responded to the scene, where they learned a person dressed in all black had approached the building wielding what officials believe to have been a gun and multiple Molotov cocktails.
A Molotov cocktail was found unused in a vehicle during the investigation, the department said during a press briefing. Police believe the suspect shot at the cars at least three times in addition to using the improvised explosives to start the fires.
The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force has been pulled in to aid the investigation, though it is "too early" to definitively classify the incident as a terrorist act, FBI Special Agent in Charge Spencer Evans said in the briefing. He did tell reporters, however, that the incident had “some of the hallmarks” of being classifiable as such.
“Violent acts like this are unacceptable, regardless of where they occur,” he said. “It’s a federal crime. We will come after you. We will find you and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.”
President Donald Trump previously said he would be open to labeling those who perpetrate violence against Tesla as domestic terrorists.
Multiple attacks on Tesla vehicles amid Elon Musk's role in Trump administration
Tesla CEO Elon Musk responded via a post on X, formerly Twitter, early Tuesday afternoon.
Reposting a video of the blaze, he said, "This level of violence is insane and deeply wrong. Tesla just makes electric cars and has done nothing to deserve these evil attacks."
Multiple attacks on Tesla vehicles have been reported since the billionaire took a prominent role in the Trump administration, unofficially leading DOGE efforts to dramatically cut government resources and spending via mass firings and funding freezes. The layoffs have ignited protests against Musk and DOGE, while critics have also derided the CEO's support of far-right groups.
A Tesla dealership in Oregon was hit with gunfire twice in March. The shooter fired more than a dozen times, causing “extensive damage to cars” and the already-boarded-up showroom windows, according to police in Tigard, a city just outside of Portland.
And in January, a Cybertruck was detonated outside of the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas in Paradise, Nevada by an active duty 37-year-old Army Special Forces member.
Matthew Alan Livelsberger is believed to have exploded the car in an act of suicide, according to the last updates provided by the LVMPD and Evans. While recovered notes and an email written by Livelsberger listed a number of political and personal grievances, he was not believed to harbor any specific animosity toward the president, investigators said. It is still unclear to officials why he chose the location, vehicle and method that he did.
Contributing: Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, Paste BN