U.S. Legal professional Normal Pam Bondi has mentioned she intends to hunt a 20-year jail sentence in opposition to a Colorado man accused of firebombing a Tesla dealership.
Cooper Jo Frederick, 24, was arrested in Fort Collins earlier this month on suspicion of throwing an incendiary machine between two automobiles exterior a dealership in close by Loveland on March 7.
It was one in all a spate of recent incidents in which Tesla vehicles or buildings — not just in the USA, but also abroad — have been vandalized, defaced with Nazi symbols, or set ablaze, apparently in protest in opposition to Elon Musk’s position within the Trump administration.
Bondi has vowed to deal with these assaults as “home terrorism”, whereas Musk and Trump have both claimed without evidence that the incidents were coordinated. To date, nobody seems to have been harm in such incidents.
“I’ve made it clear: if you happen to participate within the wave of home terrorism in opposition to Tesla properties, we’ll discover you, arrest you, and put you behind bars,” Bondi said on Musk’s social community X on Monday as she introduced federal prices in opposition to Frederick.
“All of those circumstances are a critical public menace to public security. Due to this fact, there might be no negotiating; we’re searching for 20 years in jail…
“Let this be a warning: you possibly can run, however you can’t cover. Justice is coming.”
In addition to Frederick, federal prosecutors have charged 42-year-old Lucy Grace Nelson with attempting to make use of Molotov cocktails to gentle Teslas on hearth in Loveland.
Adam Matthew Lansky, 41, is accused of throwing eight Molotov cocktails at a Tesla dealership in Salem, Oregon, whereas armed with a suppressed semi-automatic rifle.
A 3rd particular person, Daniel Brendan Kurt Clarke-Pounder, allegedly “wrote profane messages in opposition to President Trump” and lit Tesla charging stations on hearth in Charleston, South Carolina.
Regardless of Musk’s claims, regulation enforcement officers and terrorism specialists have mentioned that there isn’t a proof thus far that the assaults are coordinated.
In the meantime, crowds of peaceful protesters gathered outside Tesla buildings across the nation on Saturday, aiming to “tank Tesla’s inventory value to cease Musk”. Protest organizers pressured that they “oppose violence, vandalism, and destruction of property”.
Musk’s fervent help for Trump and his position in slashing budgets and shutting down U.S. government programs without authorization from Congress have made him a lightning rod for criticism throughout the political spectrum.
“Kill Tesla, save the nation,” wrote anti-Trump Republican Rick Wilson in a blog post calling for “peaceable protests”, after which he was rapidly banned from X.
“Tesla is now not only a automobile firm; it’s a financial institution for fascists, a goose-stepping hedge fund bankrolling the political fever desires of Elon Musk and DOGE,” Wilson mentioned.
“Stress on Tesla is stress on Musk. Break Tesla’s inventory, and also you begin to break Elon’s skill to bankroll authoritarian fantasies…and if that kneecaps Trump within the course of, properly, boo-hoo.”
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