They drove their Cybertrucks in a Mardi Gras parade. Then the crowd turned on them.

• Joshua Hazel and Christina G. had been excited to take part in a Mardi Gras parade with different Cybertruck homeowners.

• The parade turned hostile with alcohol, beads, and insults hurled on the Cybertrucks.

• Each mentioned they confronted hundreds in damages — however that it prompted them to purchase extra Tesla shares.

When the homeowners of two Cybertrucks had been requested to take part in a Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans, they felt honored — however they did not anticipate to depart with their autos broken and dear repairs.

“It was not like every other Mardi Gras,” Joshua Hazel informed Enterprise Insider in an interview, including that the response he acquired from some within the crowd was “aggressive,” “hateful,” and “violent.”

Christina G., who requested to not be totally named out of worry of retaliation, is buddies with Hazel and in addition owns a Cybertruck. Each are a part of a gaggle of Tesla owners who share widespread pursuits, together with their enthusiasm for Tesla and SpaceX.

Hazel mentioned they had been each “pumped” to be requested to move the parade marshals of their Cybertrucks for the Orpheus parade with three different buddies. The parade organizers had electrical autos carry parade marshals to observe a part of the procession, Hazel mentioned.

The buddy group of Cybertruck homeowners began the day at round midday in a pre-staging space at a conference middle, Hazel mentioned. They embellished their Cybertrucks with American flags and wraps, and all through the day, folks approached them to take pictures.

“It was all simply excessive vitality, enthusiasm, superior,” Hazel mentioned.

Some within the crowd started harassing the drivers

The occasions that transpired later that night shocked Hazel and Christina, who’ve attended Mardi Gras parades for years and did not take into account their participation within the parade an announcement.

“The vitality shift was simply so dramatic from what we skilled,” Christina informed BI.

Christina mentioned it began with alcohol being thrown on the car and worsened as they drove additional down the route.

Hazel, who was driving the car together with his spouse, mentioned his Cybertruck home windows had been down when somebody ran as much as the car and forcefully slang beads at its aspect. The beads hit his spouse within the head, Hazel mentioned.

“This man simply comes up with full pressure working from the gang, and slings a handful of beads,” Hazel mentioned. “They usually’re, you understand, there’s some thick beads, very massive beads in there, a handful of them, proper along with the truck.”

The truck’s glass panel that covers the digicam space was additionally shattered, he added.

Hazel posted a video of the incident on social media.

Hazel’s spouse informed BI she did not maintain any main harm, however she had a headache for a day or two after. Hazel mentioned he would have been tremendous with the booing and thumbs down, however folks had been throwing full cans of beer on the car with “baseball fastball throws.”

Christina’s Cybertruck additionally endured injury, and he or she mentioned it feels “surreal” to assume again to the occasion. She mentioned folks had been “pummeling” the car with an unknown heavy object that broke the highest glass.

Hazel mentioned the parade drivers had a gaggle chat with the parade organizers and had been in a position to contact the pinnacle of safety. Nevertheless, Hazel and Christina mentioned it took over an hour earlier than they had been in a position to get off the route.

“We had been actually left to only sit and endure,” Christina informed BI, including that it felt like “40 days.”

Hazel added that folks known as them Nazis, informed them to depart the town, and expressed hatred towards Elon Musk and DOGE. He mentioned he additionally witnessed kids being inspired to throw beads on the car and provides their center finger.

“I’ve acquired over 20 years of army service, and I am at present serving.” Hazel mentioned. “I am not a Nazi in our American authorities, American army. So I feel that type of stuff is, that discuss, is simply horrendous.”

The aftermath: The drivers say they face hundreds in car injury

Hazel and his spouse mentioned they filed a police report. Christina informed BI she did the identical.

Each of the Cybertruck drivers mentioned they confronted hundreds of {dollars} in repairs following the incident.

Hazel mentioned he acquired quotes that the shattered glass rim will value round $360 to exchange and the car’s aftermarket wrap will value about $7,000 to take away and redo. He mentioned the tonneau can also be “closely scratched” and that may add to the associated fee if it does not wash out.

Christina mentioned it value over $2,000 to exchange the damaged high glass on the Cybertruck.

Christina mentioned the wrap on her car tore and it is speckled with colours from the plastic-covered beads that had been thrown on it, and he or she plans to get it changed, which can value hundreds extra.

The New Orleans Police Division informed BI there weren’t any updates in its investigation into the incident.

Christina mentioned her expertise on the parade left her feeling traumatized.

“It is heartbreaking to see these individuals who have labored onerous and have determined the way to spend their very own funds to be attacked and have their property vandalized,” Christina mentioned. “It is simply damaged, it is mistaken.”

She mentioned whereas her buddies have been supportive, it has been eye-opening and scary to learn folks’s reactions on-line, together with “the celebration that some folks had been experiencing in inflicting us hurt and attacking us.”

Within the wake of Tesla protests and vandalism incidents throughout the nation in protest of Elon Musk’s political involvement, some Tesla owners have decided to sell their autos out of worry of harassment or disagreement with DOGE.

For Hazel and Christina, experiencing vandalism had the alternative impact.

Christina mentioned that as she and her husband left New Orleans that night time, she ordered the Cybertruck Wind-up Racer, a collectible mannequin offered by Tesla, that she acquired this week. Hazel equally purchased a further 185 Tesla shares following the incident.

“We purchased extra Tesla shares, we’re taking a look at including one other Tesla to the secure,” Hazel mentioned, including that he would not permit “any type of bullying to dictate” the car he drives.

Are you a Tesla proprietor with a tip or story to share? Attain out to the reporter by way of safe messaging platform Sign at aalt.19 or email at aaltchek@insider.com.

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