As Elon Musk attempts to drastically cut the federal workforce and delves further into the corridors of American power, the tech mogul’s electric-car maker Tesla has come under fire — literally.
There have been at least a dozen of vandalism against Tesla vehicles, dealerships or charging stations in recent weeks, according to police and local reports, underscoring the backlash Musk has faced since taking on an unprecedented role in the federal government.
On Jan. 29, a 40-year-old woman threw a Molotov cocktail at a Cybertruck parked at a dealership in Loveland, Colorado, according to police.
The woman, Lucy Grace Nelson, allegedly returned to the dealership four more times in recent weeks to cause further damage. She hurled more Molotov cocktails, attempted to set the dealership ablaze and spray-painted the words “nazi cars” on the building, before ultimately being arrested last week, Loveland police said. Musk has been accused of supporting antisemitic claims and insulting victims of Nazism.
About 2,000 miles east, more than half a dozen Tesla charging stations were intentionally set on fire near Boston, police said last week. At a Tesla dealership in nearby Dedham, Massachusetts, police said Tuesday that a man spray-painted three vehicles, marking the second time the dealership was tagged within the last two weeks.
On the West Coast, in Tigard, Oregon, police said last week that at least seven shots were fired at a Tesla dealership there that morning, damaging three cars and shattering windows.
And on Friday, a man ignited beer bottles and hurled the bottles at a Tesla charging stations in North Charleston, according to police. While doing so, the man accidentally lit his clothes on fire, police said.
No injuries were reported in any of the incidents. An attorney for Nelson could not be reached for comment and a voicemail for Colorado’s federal public defender’s office said it does not comment on pending cases.
Tesla did not immediately return a request for comment. In response to a video showing a man vandalizing Teslas, posted by authorities in Maryland, Musk replied: “Damaging the property of others, aka vandalism, is not free speech!”
Prior to the attacks at the Tesla dealership, Loveland Police Chief Tim Doran said he couldn’t recall a time when a single business in the community — roughly 45 miles north of the state capital Denver — similarly attracted repeated acts of violence.
He said his department has no indication that the vandalism at the Colorado dealership is connected to the acts of vandalism elsewhere.
“This is absolutely not the way to make a statement,” Doran said in an interview. “Putting people’s lives at risk is never the way to do this.”
In January, President Donald Trump tapped Musk to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
DOGE — previously known as the U.S. Digital Service — has been slashing the federal workforce and government programs at an unprecedented pace in recent weeks. As civil servants have been abruptly laid off en masse, in-person GOP town halls have turned heated, with many constituents lashing out at lawmakers over the cuts.
Musk’s appointment to the agency and his designation as a “special government employee” — which circumvents the more onerous vetting requirements for full-time government employees — has raised concerns over potential conflicts of interest. Musk, the world’s richest man, helms X, SpaceX, brain computer implant company Neuralink and AI company xAI, in addition to Tesla.
The attacks at Tesla dealerships also coincide with a decline in sales for the electric-car maker. Recent data show increasing sales growth of electric-battery vehicles in Europe, but new Tesla vehicle registrations in Europe are down 45% year over year for January, and down in China as well.
Musk’s foray into politics appears to have hit his personal fortune as well. From mid-December, the tech titan’s net worth dropped more than $100 billion, or approximately 25%, fueled by a sell-off of Tesla shares. As of Saturday, Tesla shares are down more than 30% since the start of the year.
Michael Morris, a professor at Columbia Business School who authored “Tribal,” a book about cultural divides, said he predicts the cultural blowback will eventually force Musk to resign from DOGE if his businesses continue to suffer.
“It would be a tragedy for the world if Elon Musk’s good work at Tesla and his good work at SpaceX, and his good work at his solar company got derailed by cultural blowback against his somewhat amateurish attempts to reform government,” Morris said.
The disruptions at Tesla facilities don’t appear to be slowing down.
On Friday, the same Colorado Tesla dealership was again set on fire, according to police. Police said in a statement that the new case does not appear to be related to Nelson, but suggested that she inspired a copycat. Nelson was charged with use of explosives or incendiary devices during a felony, criminal mischief and criminal attempt to commit a Class 3 felony, and is out of jail on a personal recognizance bond.
And on Saturday in New York City, police arrested nine protesters who demonstrated inside a Tesla showroom, according to a spokesperson for the New York City Police Department.
