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Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that the Justice Department is bringing “severe” charges against three individuals accused of targeting Teslas with arson attacks, following the White House’s vow to treat such incidents as domestic terrorism.
“The days of committing crimes without consequence have ended,” she wrote in a statement on Thursday. “Let this be a warning: if you join this wave of domestic terrorism against Tesla properties, the Department of Justice will put you behind bars.”
The Justice Department announced charges against three individuals.
One person, Adam Matthew Lansky, 41, allegedly threw eight Molotov cocktails at a Tesla dealership in Salem, Oregon, while armed with a suppressed AR-15 rifle.
Another, Lucy Grace Nelson, allegedly attempted to use Molotov cocktails to light Teslas on fire in Loveland, Colorado and was later found with materials that could be used to make incendiary weapons.
A third individual, Daniel Brendan Kurt Clarke-Pounder, allegedly “wrote profane messages against President Trump” and lit Tesla charging stations on fire in Charleston, South Carolina.
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The Justice Department said each person could face up to 20 years in prison.
The events described by the Justice Department match some details of previously reported incidents.
Lansky, 41, was arrested for allegedly targeting a Salem dealership twice with attacks and was charged in federal court with illegally possessing an unregistered device, WBOY reports.
Nelson was arrested and given federal charges along with Cooper Jo Frederick, 24, for allegedly targeting a Tesla dealership in Loveland, Colorado, NBC 15 reports.
Frederick allegedly threw rocks as well as an incendiary device into the dealership near parked cars, starting a fire that was quickly extinguished. He’s reportedly charged with the use of incendiary devices in a felony, possession of such devices, second-degree arson, and criminal mischief.
Nelson, meanwhile, is accused of spray-painting the word “Nazi” on the dealership’s front windows and was allegedly found by police to have a car with gasoline and Molotov cocktail materials inside. Nelson was reportedly charged with malicious destruction of property and released on bond.
In South Carolina, meanwhile, Clarke-Pounder, 24, was reportedly arrested last week and is facing federal arson charges for allegedly throwing Molotov cocktails at a Tesla charging station in North Charleston.
Teslas, dealerships, and charging stations tied to Elon Musk’s electric automaker have been the target of suspected arson attacks around the country and across the world, from Las Vegas and Boston to France.
Anonymous individuals have also created a website purporting to show the locations of Tesla facilities and individuals tied to the Department of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk’s controversial program overseeing massive spending cuts inside the federal government. The cursor on the website is a Molotov cocktail.
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The Trump administration has said it’ll prosecute Tesla arsonists as terrorists, though there is no federal law allowing the government to charge someone with the specific offense of domestic terrorism.
The FBI’s joint terrorism task force has also joined in the investigation of a suspected arson attack at a Tesla repair facility in Las Vegas.
In addition to a focus from law enforcement officials on stopping violent incidents involving Teslas, the administration has taken some unusual steps to shore up customer support for Tesla as a company.
Donald Trump held an unusual event in front of the White House earlier this month with Musk with a suite of Tesla cars, where the president said he would be buying a Tesla in a show of solidarity with his billionaire adviser in the face of criticisms for working in the administration.
“I’m going to buy because number one, it’s a great product,” Trump said at the event. “As good as it gets. Number two, because [Elon Musk] has devoted his energy and his life to doing this, and I think he has been treated unfairly.”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick also encouraged viewers during a recent Fox News interview to buy Tesla’s flagging stock.
