President Donald Trump and members of his administration are describing a small number of vandalous actions taken against Tesla properties as “domestic terrorism,” threatening participants with exceptional prison sentences and the possibility of cruel and unusual punishment.
Tesla is owned by “Department of Government Efficiency” head Elon Musk, who was also Trump’s largest donor during the 2024 presidential campaign. Musk has also sensationalized the attacks on the vehicles and storefronts, stating last week that he couldn’t “walk past the TV without seeing a Tesla on fire.”
There have been at least 10 instances of property destruction on Tesla properties since inauguration day.
Last Thursday, Trump stated on social media that those “sabotaging” Tesla “stand a very good chance of going to jail for up to twenty years.” He also promoted a conspiracy theory that these attacks were somehow related to each other and being financed by an unknown group.
Various officials have told NBC News that there is “no evidence of any coordination around the attacks.” An FBI memo published last week states that the attacks “appear to have been conducted by lone offenders.”
Trump has also stated that he could send those convicted of harming Tesla properties to foreign prisons.
“I look forward to watching the sick terrorist thugs get 20 year jail sentences for what they are doing to Elon Musk and Tesla,” Trump said on Truth Social, adding that those charged and convicted could be sent to “the prisons of El Salvador,” which he sarcastically described as being “famous for such lovely conditions.”
Trump has also falsely alleged peaceful actions against Tesla are “illegal,” describing planned protests of the company in those terms earlier this month.
John Lewis, a research fellow at George Washington University’s Program on Extremism, told NBC News that “The idea that you could take Americans who have not been charged with a terrorism offense, let alone convicted of it, and talk about deporting them to a foreign country to serve prison sentences is incredibly chilling.”
In a statement to reporters at the White House, Trump dismissed comparisons of Tesla vandalism to the January 6, 2021, attacks.
“These are terrorists,” Trump said of the Tesla attacks. “You didn’t have anything like that on January 6th.”
Hundreds of Trump loyalists violently stormed the U.S. Capitol on that day in an attempt to delay or overturn the 2020 presidential election results and keep Trump in office, which caused an estimated $1.5 million in property damage.
United States Attorney General Pam Bondi announced federal charges against three individuals who had caused “violent destruction of Tesla properties.” She described the attacks as a “wave of domestic terrorism” against the company.
Notably, there is no federal statute that deals with “domestic terrorism.” However, prosecutors have used the term to influence the outcome of a trial or to seek longer sentences after a criminal conviction is decided.
Republicans already appear to be using Trump’s ambiguity to delegitimize and threaten persecution of any action taken against Tesla — including boycotts or nonviolent protests. In Tennessee, for example, Republican State Sen. Brent Taylor derided a “Tesla Takedown” protest event that had occurred over the weekend, calling it “evil and illegal” and “leftist terrorism.”
Coordinators of these events have gone to great lengths to emphasize that they are nonviolent, peaceful and lawful demonstrations.
“Tesla Takedown is a peaceful protest movement,” a description of the events states. “We oppose violence, vandalism and destruction of property. This protest is a lawful exercise of our First Amendment right to peaceful assembly.”
Tesla Takedown protests are being held to demonstrate against Musk’s decimation of government agencies and departments through budget cuts and firing of government workers. Several judges and legal experts have said many of Musk’s cuts and firings are likely unlawful.
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