A man said his Tesla was vandalized as unrest continues with Elon Musk and the multi-billion dollar company.
A Garner man named Jeremy, who declined to share his last name out of fear for his safety, told WRAL News that someone etched the word “NAZI” into his Tesla.
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“I was working from home and my wife was out running some errands [She] came home and as she was coming in past the car, she saw the damage to it,” Jeremy said. “We immediately started reviewing the footage from the car because it does have sentry mode – but unfortunately we didn’t see anything.”
Jeremy said he is not sure when his car was vandalized. He said police have been involved and they checked security footage from stores he visited, but so far have not been able to find anything.
One of many acts against Musk, both peaceful and criminal
Musk critics have organized dozens of peaceful demonstrations at Tesla dealerships and factories across North America and Europe. Some Tesla owners, including a U.S. senator who feuded with Musk, have vowed to sell their vehicles.
In February, more than 100 people gathered outside a Telsa dealership in Raleigh to protest the world’s richest man.
In Las Vegas, a Tesla Collision Center was set on fire and five vehicles were damaged.
Federal agents in South Carolina last week arrested a man they say set fire to Tesla charging stations near Charleston. An agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives wrote in an affidavit that authorities found writings critical of the government and DOGE in his bedroom and wallet.
Trump has compared the vandalisms of Teslas to “domestic terrorism,” a sentiment shared by his Attorney General, Pam Bondi, who filed domestic terrorism charges in connection to arsons involving Tesla vehicles.
“If you’re going to touch a Tesla, go to a dealership, do anything, you better watch out because we’re coming after you,” Bondi said days earlier on Fox Business Network. In a statement Tuesday, she vowed to “continue investigations that impose severe consequences,” including for “those operating behind the scenes to coordinate and fund these crimes.”
Jeremy said he was no stranger to political hate involving his Tesla before the vandalism.
“I’ve had folks roll coal on me or give me the middle finger like that – Cutting me off, you know, pretty aggressively on purpose,” he said. “Usually, this was from the other side of the political spectrum.”
Garner man urges caution, says vandals might be hurting people who disagree with Musk
Tesla was once the darling of the left. Helped to viability by a $465 million federal loan during the Obama administration, the company popularized electric vehicles and proved, despite their early reputation, that they didn’t have to be small, stodgy, underpowered and limited in range.
More recently, though, Musk has allied himself with the right. He bought the social network Twitter, renamed it X and erased restrictions that had infuriated conservatives. He spent an estimated $250 million to boost Trump’s 2024 Republican campaign, becoming by far his biggest benefactor.
Jeremy said many people who bought Teslas bought them long before Musk became part of the Trump administration, and those are the people likely being hurt in the vandalisms.
“I bought this back in 2019 and paid it off a month ago,” he said. “This was back in the time when Elon was just some guy tweeting about rocket motors and fast cars, and wasn’t problematic at the time.”
Musk continues to run Tesla — as well as X and the rocket manufacturer SpaceX — while also serving as Trump’s adviser.
Tesla stock doubled in value in the weeks after Trump’s election but has since shed all those gains.
Trump gave a boost to the company when he turned the White House driveway into an electric-vehicle showroom. He promoted the vehicles and said he would purchase an $80,000 Model S, eschewing his fierce past.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.