Tesla attacks stoke fears of political violence

Weeks of violent protests at Elon Musk’s Tesla showrooms and charging stations are fueling concerns political tensions could be reaching a boiling point amid anger and frustration over Musk's efforts to slash the federal bureaucracy.

From vandalized Teslas to gunshots at dealerships, protests have popped up across the nation amid anger and frustration over Musk's efforts to slash the federal bureaucracy.

Musk is facing mounting backlash over his leadership of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is driving mass layoffs at federal agencies, slashing government programs and obtaining access to sensitive personal information. 

Tesla — Musk’s electric vehicle manufacturer — has turned into a political lightning rod amid the criticism.  

“The role of wealthy industry leaders in government is sort of making the industry or the company’s product a potential target because there’s this sort of entwining of business leadership and political leadership in ways that people are concerned about that they don’t think are healthy for democracy,” said Adria Lawrence, a political science professor at Johns Hopkins University who studies conflict and collective action. 

Many of the demonstrations have been peaceful. But in a few instances, protestors are setting Cybertrucks on fire, spray-painting Tesla showrooms or vehicles with profanity including swastikas, throwing Molotov cocktails or in some places, firing gunshots at dealerships.  

No injuries have been reported.

At least three people are facing federal charges so far in connection with separate attacks against Tesla properties. Attorney General Pam Bondi warned the violent protestors that the Justice Department will “put them behind bars” this week. 

“The people attacking Teslas are trying to send the message that if you support President Trump, they will commit acts of violence to try to intimidate you,” Vice President Vance said in a Friday post on the social platform X. “Our message to them? Terrorists in this country will be brought to justice.”

It is not clear who is organizing the violent protests, though experts agree they are largely a response to DOGE from a small fringe of the electorate.  

“There’s an incredible amount of anger that the richest man in the world has seen fit to not only meddle in the affairs of the federal government but also push people into poverty or at best living check to check because of the abrupt firings,” political strategist Basil Smikle said. 

The attacks against Musk’s Tesla vehicles have come against the backdrop of an already agitated electorate, who in recent weeks have heckled lawmakers at town halls across the country about the tech billionaire and DOGE.

Lawmakers — both Republican and Democratic — have been confronted by angry attendees over the Trump adviser and his efforts to cut various sectors of the government. 

“You talk about national security, yet you have done nothing to stop Elon Musk and his little band of tech geeks,” one woman told Rep. Mike Flood (R-Neb.) during a feisty town hall in Columbus, Neb., this week. 

“They went in and they had read-write access to the agencies, and that is a huge national security threat,” she added. 

Flood received boos while answering a question around what he was doing to curb Musk’s actions. 

“I know you disagree with what Mr. Musk is doing; I know you disagree with the way this is rolling out, but this is the process that we are using to find waste, fraud, and abuse,” the Nebraska Republican said. 

Democrats, too, including Rep. Gil Cisneros (D-Calif.), have been met by angry attendees over Musk and concerns of Medicaid and Social Security. 

"I'm on your side. I am on your side," Cisneros told attendees at a meeting, according to KABC-TV. "Everything you said — I do not disagree with anything that anybody said in here today." 

Supercharged emotions among voters and rising violence are part of a larger trend in the United States, political observers told The Hill, warning the tensions will likely persist.  

“It just didn’t happen overnight, but over a period of years,” Smikle said. “There are a lot of people in this country who were made to feel that our institutions no longer matter and that they’re no longer viable and therefore we need to blow the whole thing up.” 

Research suggests, according to Lawrence, the electorate's anger bubbles into violence when the opposition is “fragmented.”  

Since their loss of the White House last fall, Democrats have struggled to coalesce around a unified message.  

“Democrats have shown over the last two months they do not have a cogent response to Donald Trump,” GOP strategist Brian Seitchik said, adding, “If you don’t like Donald Trump, violence right now is what you’re seeing, is the response.” 

Earlier this week, Musk claimed the attacks are in part organized or paid for by “left-wing organizations in America, funded by left-wing billionaires, essentially,” but did not provide evidence.  

The progressive group Indivisible has organized some of the protests, though it makes clear in its announcements these are intended to be peaceful demonstrations.  

Still, the instances of violence at other protests or isolated incidents speak to the larger political unrest and following other outbreaks of political violence.

“We're in a period of rising political tension. There's a history of political violence in this country,” Paul Barrett, the deputy director of New York University's Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, told The Hill.  

“Technological developments of recent years have exacerbated the level of political intimidation and violence, and I think we're seeing the consequences of all of that in a wide variety of heightening efforts to intimidate political foes and, in some cases, actually commit violence,” he added. “This is really nothing new at all.” 

Concerns about political violence have persisted throughout Trump’s presidential terms, igniting with a 2017 attack on the Republican Congressional baseball team that nearly claimed the life of House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.)

Two months later came a deadly clash between white nationalists and counterprotesters in Charlottesville, Va.

Violence reached a fever pitch on Jan. 6, 2021, as hundreds of Trump supporters rioted at the Capitol to prevent the certification of the 2020 election results. And two campaign trail assassination attempts against Trump deepened fears of further violence heading into the election.

When asked about the possibility of another assassination attempt against Trump or even Musk, Smikle said, “I wouldn’t be surprised, unfortunately.” 

“It’s something that we’ve seen or heard about in countries, but we just never believed that it would come to the United States,” he added. “We seem to not be insulated from a lot of the turmoil that may be occurring in other parts of the world.” 

Barrett and Lawrence noted violence becomes normalized when leaders or the public legitimize it.  

Pointing to Trump’s pardoning of Jan. 6 defendants, Barrett said this “sends a message to the entire population that anything goes, that actually politics is just a brutal confrontation in the streets.” 

Trump’s rhetoric often calls out specific critics or groups, and this week, he called for the impeachment of a judge who ruled against him.  

“In that kind of environment, it's much more likely that people are going to turn their political resentments into threats and, in some rare cases, actual violence,” Barrett said.  

Various federal judges expressed concerns for their safety this week.  

Meanwhile, Lawrence dismissed the idea that violence will become more common in the U.S., stating the country has “strength” with its local policing and long-standing history of the rule of law.  

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